By Perla Lena
ILOILO CITY – The provincial government of Iloilo is exploring the option of utilizing tents as temporary catch-up classrooms during the construction of permanent structures.
Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. stated in a press conference on Tuesday, “(The strategy is) to provide a facility that can assist us in catching up while we are in the process of building classrooms.”
Defensor Jr. personally inspected a modular tent provided by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Tuesday and Wednesday, assessing factors such as ventilation, durability, and other supplementary aspects to ensure that the facility is suitable for classroom use.
He said the design is different, and the material has to withstand heat.
“We want to be sure it is correct. We examine the temperature and the adjustments if ever we decide that this is part of our solution to classroom shortage on a temporary basis,” he said.
The province lacks around 300 classrooms, he added.
The governor said the strategy is to allot a part of the special education fund (SEF) for the catch-up plan.
“The larger part of our SEF goes to an intensified classroom program where we construct typhoon-resilient classrooms,” he added.
He said when not in use, they could turn over the tents to local disaster risk reduction and management councils that could be used during calamities. (PNA)
