3 towns get 209 new classrooms, 10 daycare centers

Bantayan Island — For almost a year now, an open makeshift tent made of recycled wooden planks and beams served as the temporary classroom for fifth graders at Bantayan Central School.

Bantayan island was one of the hardest hit areas when supertyphoon Yolanda made landfall in November last year. The Bantayan Central School in barangay Ticad hosted yesterday’s turnover ceremony of 209 classrooms and 10 daycare centers donated by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) and 13 of its local and international partners.

With 3,197 students, 16 of its classrooms were destroyed while 39 were damaged, leaving school administrators with no choice but to set up “temporary learning centers,” said principal Cleofe Papango.

They used materials from the ruined classrooms and used tents from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to put up the structure.

A number of nongovernment organizations including Rafi already repaired majority of the damaged classrooms but two remaining tents are still used by the fifth graders.

“It’s really hard for the students to concentrate because of the people passing by. They get easily distracted,” said Genevieve Baruc, a teacher.

The school is one of 22 schools in the municipalities of Sta. Fe, Madridejos and Bantayan chosen as recipients of yesterday’s turnover ceremony.

RAFI spent P218.95 million for the whole project, said the foundation’s Education Development Unit Executive Director Anthony Dignadice.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures were incorporated in the design of the structures.

“The school building design includes stronger columns and beams, improved roof sloping, elevated flooring, lavatory and water closet per classroom, roof insulation and natural ventilation, two solid panel doors, jalousie windows, concaved blackboards and two ceiling fans per classroom,” he explained.

Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (PARR) Secretary Panfilo Lacson and Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Mario Deriquito attended the ceremony alongside Gov. Hilario Davide.

In a press conference, Deriquito said DepEd is targeting to complete all Yolanda-related repairs before school year 2015-2016 starts.

Of the 3,670 classrooms destroyed and 16,815 damaged by Yolanda, 95 percent already have funding either from partnerships with the private sector or funds from the national government.

“The response of DepEd after the calamity was not limited or confined to building and rebuilding classrooms. There’s a lot of work to be done. We had to regroup our division and regional offices before we can attend to the material needs,” he said.

“Even in temporary learning spaces like tents or makeshift classrooms, we tried our best to make the children go back to school (with) free school supplies and food,” he added.