DepEd-ARMMand Floods submerge 50 Maguindanao schools

COTABATO CITY (Sept. 5/NDBC) - At least 50 public schools have been submerged by floodwater that
inundated 26 municipalities in Maguinanao, an education officials today said.

Jamar Kulayan,
Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(DepEd-ARMM) regional secretary, said as a result more than 10,000 pupils and
about 200 teachers were affected.

A low pressure
area triggered torrential rains in Maguindanao and nearby provinces triggering
floods in low lying towns around the 220,000-hectare Maguindanao marshland.

The 26 towns
remained flooded and the province had been placed under state of calamity by
the Maguindanao provincial board Friday.

Kulayan said
the floods had been there for a week now and had been making life difficult
among students, teachers and parents.

But only few
schools have suspended classes, Kulayan said, because education officials were innovative.Despite the
floods, Kulayan said there were efforts to allow the continuation of classes
even in flooded schools and school grounds.

The floods, a
perennial problem in Maguindanao’s low lying communities, did not hinder the
education department to continue classes.

We have what
we call education during emergencies,” Kulayan told reporters.

We have schools,
although flooded, have taken options like holding classes in elevated area of
the school grounds,” he added.

As future measurs, Kulayan said the construction of public schools should be in elevated
areas or its ground level is higher but it needs additional budgetary
requirements.

He said if
inclement weather continues more schools and pupils will be affected.

As of posting,
Maguindanao is experiencing on and off rain. (NDBC)