As part of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s continuing assistance to Mt. Kanlaon-affected evacuees, Field Office personnel are providing necessary support to children-evacuees to ensure the continuity of their education amid the crisis.
“Our field office camp coordinators, despite their hectic daily schedule, find time to help our learners with their studies. In fact, some of our personnel even go the extra mile to entertain questions from learners who are having a difficult time understanding their learning materials on their own,” DSWD assistant secretary Irene Dumlao said.
Following the eruption of Kanlaon volcano on December 9 and the on-going mandatory evacuation in nearby areas, schools have resorted to blended learning or a combination of face-to-face classes and modular learning.
To date, more than 1,600 school-aged children or those 6-12 years old are currently staying in 23 evacuation areas around Kanlaon volcano.
Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said that in an evacuation center in Linothangan Elementary School in Canlaon City, personnel of the agency’s Field Office (FO) 7 – Central Visayas are assisting children as they navigate through blended-learning activities.
Linothangan Elementary School camp manager Marestella Ocianas said learners who would have to fetch their modules from their teachers when these materials cannot be delivered to the camp are assisted by the school personnel.
“We want to ensure that these students can continue their studies in the camp,” Camp Manager Ocianas said.
Dumlao said the agency will continue providing the much-needed support to affected households, including its sector-specific aid and interventions.
“From food provision, non-food items, monitoring that the evacuation centers are kept clean and safe, down to our sector-specific support to our learners, elderly, pregnant, and nursing mothers — we will continue to extend these to them until the situation finally allows our kababayans to return to their normal lives,” she added.
