The Department of Education Regional Office III have started the post-disaster recovery programs for the schools affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake which occurred on April 22.
Through the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Services (DRRMS) Division of the DepEd Central Office, DepEd Region III conducted a Psychological First Aid Training for School Guidance Counselors and Coordinators in Central Luzon on August 5-7 at the National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines (NEAP)-Region III in Angeles City.
“We want to capacitate our school guidance counselors to provide the needed psychosocial support to the learners, teachers, and even school officials after the traumatic experience relative to the 6.1 magnitude earthquake. After the training, these personnel shall be going around the affected schools to conduct debriefing and other post-disaster activities,” said Nicolas Capulong, OIC-Regional Director of DepEd.
The training, participated in by 62 registered guidance counselors and 38 school coordinators, includes topics on mental health and psychosocial support services, psychological first aid, and simulation exercises.
Repair funding requested from Central Office
After the site inspection and validation of the concerned DepEd Schools Division Engineers and the Central Office Education Facilities Division in the affected schools within the region, DepEd Region III has submitted its request for funding to the Central Office in the amount of P410M for the repair and new construction of a total of 485 classrooms in 110 school sites in Central Luzon.
319 classrooms in 68 school sites need repair and rehabilitation while 166 classrooms in 42 school sites need new buildings. Among the provinces, Pampanga has the most number of repair and construction needs with a total of 168 classrooms in 27 school sites.