Cebu school heads may suspend classes due to hot weather

CEBU CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) in Central Visayas urged school administrators to look after the welfare of schoolchildren by exercising discretion to suspend classes during extremely hot weather.

Lawyer Fiel Almendra, DepEd Assistant Regional Director, said there is no policy of outright suspension if an area registers a heat index of 42° Celsius or above, emphasizing the need to assess whether the learners and the teachers would be exposed to extreme heat.

Almendra said teachers should shift from in-person classes to blended learning modalities such as online or modular so as not to sacrifice the required number of days that schoolchildren should be in their classroom.

“They should shift at once to alternative learning methods so that the 203 days in school should be completed,” Almendra told reporters.

He said DepEd would usually depend on the opinion of the Department of Health on whether to suspend classes, especially in cases where a hot environment would expose learners and teachers to the risk of getting heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

His statement came following reports that many schools in Cebu continue to hold ground activities that exposed schoolchildren to the scorching heat of the sun. He said there were reported incidents during the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association where athletes suffered minor injuries due to hot weather, but were addressed right away.

Last month, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said school heads have the authority and responsibility to suspend face-to-face classes and switch to alternative delivery modes if the hot season already affects the health of the learners and school personnel. (John Rey Saavedra)