Every year, in times of disasters/calamities especially during rainy seasons, schools cater affected community people for evacuation centers.
When a calamity hits an area, it does not exclude/excuse classrooms or any school buildings from damages. Affected schools need to be rehabilitated and repaired immediately.
Using classrooms/schools as evacuation centers greatly affect many factors:
1. Cleanliness and orderliness of schools/classrooms.
2. Immediate rehabilitation of the damaged schools/classrooms.
3. Number of school days.
Cleanliness and orderliness of the schools/classrooms. Immediate cleaning and repair of the school is needed after a calamity. Teachers and other concern people in the community should help each other in cleaning the school to maintain its cleanliness and orderliness in order to resume classes immediately.
Using schools as evacuation centers add more damages to the classrooms. Orderliness of the teaching materials, textbooks, and other school equipment are being shattered by most of the evacuees. Some books and other visual materials were used for kindling fire for cooking. Other equipment is used improperly, making the damages caused by calamities even worst.
Immediate rehabilitation of the damaged schools/classrooms. In order to resume classes immediately after a disasters, immediate rehabilitation and repair of the damage classrooms/buildings is needed. How can you repair or rehabilitate the damaged schools if it is used as evacuation centers.
Instead of repairing the damages, evacuees add more harm to the affected classrooms/schools.
Number of school days. Using the classrooms as evacuation centers will delay the rehabilitation and repair of the school which will delay the resume of classes. In order to cope with the number of classes for a school year, make-up classes are administered.
Making schools as evacuation centers has many disadvantages to the schools, to the teachers as well as to its pupils/students. The government and the department concern must make immediate action regarding this matter.
By: Josielyne F. Pragacha | T-III | Pantingan Elementary School
