MANILA, Philippines — Secretary Sonny Angara of the Department of Education (DepEd) ordered a comprehensive disaster response for 267 schools heavily affected by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Mindanao, "deploying emergency classrooms, learning packets, and clean-up operations", the DepEd said.
While the DepEd was expediting resource deployment, its top priority was the safety and welfare of the academic community.
The DepEd stressed that returning to face-to-face classes will be decided on a per school basis and will be allowed only when the department's engineers, local coordinators, and structural experts have cleared the facilities.
