THE Department of Education (DepEd) is set to hire additional school security guards using P500 million included in the General Appropriations Bill, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said Saturday. Angara said the department will prioritize schools with higher risk profiles, particularly large schools in urban areas. "An additional P500 million was added to the General Appropriations Bill for hiring security guards. That is the latest financial development," Angara said in an ambush interview on Friday. He said school safety drills are ongoing nationwide and are being repeated in schools. He said feedback from schools has been good, adding that schools were now more comfortable conducting the drills and would no longer be at a loss if incidents occurred. Class suspensions Angara also said schools can appeal to their local government units (LGUs) under a newly signed executive order concerning class suspensions. He said the order allows schools to initiate or resume classes when they determine that their areas are not affected by a weather disturbance. Under the previous executive order, schools were required to follow an LGU's suspension declaration. He said schools can now inform their LGUs after verifying that their areas are safe and request to resume classes. Angara referred to the arrangement as "granular resumption." Angara said efforts to address nihilistic violent extremism (NVE) should not be limited to schools. He called on barangay (villages), families and religious communities to work together in addressing the issue. "It is not just the schools, because they are really poisoning the minds of our young people. I hope this will not involve schools alone. The entire barangay, all families and parishioners should come together to fight this," Angara said. He also said addressing the issue requires interventions beyond education, including social welfare and health services. Angara's remarks came as he attended the forum titled "Addressing School-Based Violence: A Forum on Preventing Nihilistic Violent Extremism," held at the University of Asia and the Pacific in Pasig City on Nov. 6.
The Manila Times
Original source
