WITH the opening of classes just around the corner, the Cebu Provincial Board passed resolutions last Monday requesting the Provincial Health Office, local government units and the Department of Education to ensure the safety of students.
The resolutions sponsored by PB Member Miguel Antonio Magpale separately requested the Provincial Health Office, and the Department of Trade and Industry to prevent the influx of school supplies with potentially hazardous materials in the market.
“With the expected increase in demand for school supplies as the opening of the school year approaches, unscrupulous suppliers and distributors may flood the market with school supplies with hazardous or toxic materials,” Magpale said in one of his resolutions.
The PB also approved the resolution requesting all component towns and cities of the province and the Provincial Engineering Office to ensure the safety of pedestrian crossings and sidewalks near public elementary and high schools.
“According to Pedestrian Safety Philippines, pedestrians are 1.5 times more prone to be killed in a car accident; 84 percent of roads in the Philippines do not have sidewalks; and there is a widespread lack of respect to road right-of-way of pedestrians in pedestrian crossings,” Magpale said in the resolution.
Another resolution encouraged the DepEd to integrate disaster risk reduction into its basic education curriculum offered to elementary pupils.
Classes in public schools start on June 1.