The Department of Education (DepEd) must reassert its authority over governance of basic education amid announcements of extended suspensions or classes, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations said yesterday.
COCOPEA legal counsel Joseph Noel Estrada said while a local government unit (LGU) has the power to promote the general welfare of its constituents and enjoy local autonomy, it does not mean full independence from the central government.
‘The governance of basic education is primarily lodged by law to DepEd. The Secretary of Education is the alter ego of the President,’ Estrada said on Facebook.
‘Local governments operate under the framework of national laws and policies, they are interdependent with the national government and subordinate to its authority,’ he added.
The DepEd has warned that prolonged suspension of classes could disrupt students’ learning and development following Laguna Gov. Sol Aragones’ order to suspend face-to-face classes until Oct. 31, citing the need for heightened disaster preparedness.
However, the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has opted to continue face-to-face classes despite Aragones’ order and instead hold a university-wide earthquake drill today.
The UPLB earlier issued a memorandum advising students that examinations, laboratory classes, fieldwork, clinical and internship rotations, human kinetics courses requiring physical participation, exchange student activities and others that cannot be effectively delivered through online or modular modes shall proceed as scheduled.
It said that the university-wide earthquake drill will be held from nine to 10 a.m.
Capacity building for disasters
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will extend technical assistance to DepEd to capacitate teachers and school administrators in the aftermath of the successive earthquakes that rocked the Philippines.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is set to conduct training programs in DepEd’s regional and field offices, enabling them to prepare for and respond better to earthquakes with proper hazard information and risk assessments.
DOST will also assist DepEd in maintaining schools’ structural integrity, especially those constructed atop fault lines.
Science Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. met with Education Secretary Sonny Angara in Makati on Tuesday to prepare the education system in the event that ‘the Big One,’ or the feared 7.2-magnitude earthquake, strikes Metro Manila.
Local government units that lie above the West Valley Fault, including Taguig and Muntinlupa, have already conducted inspections to assess the integrity of the buildings.
Angara deemed it crucial that his agency has close coordination with Phivolcs to be properly guided by science.
Angara also floated the possibility of establishing a DepEd Command Center together with Phivolcs to serve as a monitoring hub for natural hazards.