Classes in Negros, Tacloban shift online due to heat
BACOLOD CITY—Classes in 17 localities of Negros Occidental province shifted online on Wednesday as local governments ordered the suspension of in-person sessions to protect students, teachers and school personnel from the extreme heat.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said the heat index reached “dangerous” level as the state weather bureau measured the heat index in La Carlota City at 43 degrees Celsius at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) projected the heat index to slightly go down to 42 C by Wednesday and to 41 C by Thursday.
Among the local governments that suspended in-person classes were Isabela, Ilog, Pontevedra, Moises Padilla, Binalbagan, Pulupandan, Hinigaran, Cauayan, Hinoba-an, Murcia and EB Magalona towns.
Classes were also suspended in the cities of Bago, Himamaylan, La Carlota, Talisay, Kabankalan and Victorias.
This was the second day for classes to be disrupted by extreme heat. On Tuesday, more than 56,000 students stayed home and shifted to alternative learning modes with the cancellation of in-person classes due to an elevated heat index.
These were in the cities of Himamaylan, Kabankalan and Silay, and the towns of Calatrava, Candoni, Cauayan, EB Magalona, Hinigaran, Ilog, La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Pontevedra, Pulupandan, San Enrique and Valladolid.
In Bacolod City, Mayor Greg Gasataya said on Wednesday that he had left the decision to cancel classes due to extreme heat to the Department of Education (DepEd) and individual school heads.
Health warning
In Tacloban City, more than 55,000 students in public elementary and secondary schools continued with learning activities either online or modular distance learning, in keeping with a DepEd order to call off in-person classes for two days starting Tuesday due to the unbearable heat.
Pagasa had recorded Tacloban’s heat index at 39 C on Tuesday afternoon, and projected it to persist by Wednesday before slightly going down to 38 C by Thursday.
On Wednesday, Borongan City in Eastern Samar recorded Eastern Visayas region’s highest heat index at 42 , according to Pagasa.
Authorities classify heat index readings of 33 C to 41 C under “extreme caution,” warning of possible heat cramps and heat exhaustion with prolonged exposure.
Noli Eder, information officer of DepEd’s Tacloban City Schools Division, clarified that classes were not entirely suspended but that schools were directed to discontinue in-person instruction and adopt alternative learning arrangements.
Some private schools also opted to shift to online learning to protect students from prolonged exposure to the heat.
