EDUCATION Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday said classes in public schools would open in Mindanao next week as scheduled except, perhaps, for strife-torn Marawi, Iligan and some villages in Lanao del Sur because of the threat posed by a terrorist group.
Briones said she was still assessing the situation in Marawi and Iligan cities and Lanao del Sur to determine whether or not the Department of Education (Deped) should postpone the opening of classes in these areas on Monday, June 5. She said the opening of classes in these areas may be postponed for two weeks.
Briones said there were at least eight barangays in Lanao del Sur, and Iligan that are being closely watched by Deped. She did not name the villages.
Deped’s decision, she said, would depend on the military’s security assessment for these areas.
“The Maute group will most likely move out… Security is very important to us… the safety of the lives [of people in these] eight barangays and Marawi City,” Briones told a news conference here.
Elsewhere, Briones said, public schools would all open their doors for elementary and high school students on Monday despite the May 23 declaration of martial law in Mindanao by President Duterte.
She said she ordered all Deped directors in Mindanao to ensure that classes would start on Monday, especially those in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
“We will proceed with our classes whatever the situation may be because that is our mandate,” she said.
Briones said there was no reason for public school classes to be suspended, pointing out that Deped has already prepared for June 5.
She said classrooms, chairs and textbooks, among others, have been prepared, and teachers were ready.
Briones also directed Deped school division superintendents in Mindanao to make sure that Maranaos displaced as a result of the Marawi crisis are accepted if they decide to enroll outside their city.
She noted that many evacuated from Marawi and students may opt to transfer to other schools.
“If they wish to be enrolled, accept them. No one should be denied,” Briones said.
Enrollment requirements for displaced students would be waived, she said.
“We are going to waive cards… In time of war, we don’t [impose] the bureaucratic requirements,” she said.
Briones said Deped is ready to augment its pools of teachers in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Misamis Oriental where many evacuees are.
She said Deped is now tracking down some 21,000 elementary and high school students who are adversely affected by the Marawi crisis.
She said Deped has recorded not less than 1,500 student-evacuees in Iligan alone. In Lanao del Sur, she said there were at least 800 students from Marawi.
Briones said Deped expects the figures to swell.
The stateun Mindanao State University in Iligan would be absorbing MSU-Marawi students.
“Education will proceed whatever the situation is. Wherever they are… whether they are displaced… whether they are in Iligan or Cagayan de Oro,” Briones said.
Although classes would start on June 5, Briones said, the enrollment period would be until June 30.
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