Lack of classrooms affect learners in schools used as Kanlaon evacuation centers
Kanlaon Volcano, Photo by Marvin Escander, contributor.
BACOLOD CITY — At least 10,000 learners in Negros are hounded by the lack of classrooms in schools that have been transformed into evacuation centers for residents displaced by Mt. Kanlaon’s unrest since June 3, 2024.
Ian Arnold Arnaez, Negros Occidental Schools Division spokesperson, said there was an existing policy of the Department of Education (DepEd) that schools could only be used as evacuation centers for 15 days to minimize disruption to education.
But this was not been possible as evacuees of Mt. Kanlaon, especially in La Castellana town, Negros Occidental, had been living in schools since December last year since they had nowhere to go.
Now being used as evacuation centers are La Castellana Elementary School which had 1,495 learners enrolled last school year, Don Felix Robles Elementary School – 1,768 and La Castellana National High School – 5,660 or a total of 8,923.
Other La Castellana schools with displaced learners were Cabagna-an Elementary School, with 296, Mananawin Elementary School, 145; Old Fabrica Elementary School, 286; Sag-ang Integrated School, 757; and Biak na Bato Elementary School, 474.
Arnaez said there were not enough classrooms to accommodate students from schools within the six-kilometer extended danger zone, while schools used as evacuation centers are left with fewer classrooms for learning.
This has resulted in the scheduling of the use of the few available classrooms with in-person classes held once a week, and distance and module learning on other days.
“This is affecting the learning process,” Arnaez said in an interview on May 3.
Canopies, he said, had been provided makeshift classrooms but they were hot and not conducive to learning.
They also can only accommodate about 14 learners per tent compared to 30 to 40 in regular classrooms, Arnaez said.
Pending the implementation of an alternative relocation plan by the local government, he said they would have to make do with the current set up.
Donato Sermeno III, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense – Negros Island Region, said on Tuesday that La Castellana has a request for 30 more canopies to serve as alternative learning spaces.
He said they were now looking at constructing nipa and bamboo structures to serve as alternative learning spaces for students, in addition to the canopy tents that were recently requested by the La Castellana government.
Mt. Kanlaon marked a year of unrest on June 3.
The volcano remains under Alert Level 3 or a period of intensified magmatic unrest and the threat of more eruptions remains.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported that Mt. Kanlaon had one ash emission event that lasted 29 minutes, 38 volcanic earthquakes, including one volcanic tremor, and emitted 1,460 tons of sulfur dioxide from midnight. Monday to 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Ash fall was reported in Barangays Ilijan, Binubuhan, and Mailum in Bago City on Monday, Sermeno said.
There are 2,248 families from Kanlaon Volcano’s 6-kilometer extended danger zone who remain in 23 evacuation centers in Canlaon City in Negros Oriental as well as in La Castellana, La Carlota City and Bago City in Negros Occidental.
“The situation has had a huge impact on their livelihoods and the education of children, and the prolonged dislocation has had psychological effects,” Sermeno said.
READ: Phivolcs sees rise in sulfur emissions from Kanlaon Volcano
