Mayor Greg Gasataya ordered the suspension of face-to-face classes in all public primary and secondary schools in Bacolod City on Tuesday, October 14, to allow for the continuation of the inspection of school buildings following Monday’s earthquake.
A Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) being jointly conducted by the City Engineer’s Office, Office of the Building Official, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office started Monday and was still ongoing, the mayor said.
The suspension of classes was also ordered on the recommendation of the Department of Education-Division of Bacolod City, he said.
The public schools concerned are encouraged to shift to modular distance learning, performance tasks, and projects to ensure that learning competencies are met, he added.
Classes in the public tertiary level and private schools are left to the discretion of their school heads and safety officers, Gasataya added.
Gasataya on Monday said the city’s RDANA was being conducted in coordination with DepEd.
Initial reports confirmed four classrooms in Bacolod that sustained damage during the first earthquake that hit Bogo.
But apparently there are more classrooms that have been abandoned and others with floor cracks, Gasataya said.*