The 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Mindanao, south of the Philippines, on Monday, where authorities continue to carry out search and rescue efforts for damage caused to buildings, homes, bridges, roads and schools. To date, 41 deaths have been recorded and more than 470 people have been injured. Most deaths are directly related to falling debris and other damage resulting from the earthquake.
A natural disaster that has affected some 145,000 citizens, 33,000 were families residing in the areas that have borne the brunt, and more than 40,000 residents have had to be displaced due to the impossibility of returning to their homes, according to the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management.
Back to school in the Philippines has been marred by the earthquake
The earthquake coincided with the first day of the school year for millions of boys and girls between 6 and 12 years old. Faisah Ali, humanitarian director at Save The Children Philippines, comments that “approximately 3.2 million lost access to their classrooms due to the widespread destruction of school buildings.” “We also anticipate that many children will need psychosocial support, especially those displaced in and out of informal evacuation centers,” adds Faisah Ali.
More than 6,000 classrooms have been damaged, causing many students to be injured while celebrating the morning flag-raising ceremony. For now, the NGO Save The Children states that they are ensuring “that there are temporary learning spaces available near evacuation centers or in safe places where children can continue their classes, including spaces adapted to their needs to process the trauma and panic attacks they experienced during the strong earthquake.”
“What worries us most is that this will represent a long-term learning loss for teachers and children.”
The NGO Plan International also warns that this emergency has a direct impact on children. The disruption of education and the temporary loss of safe spaces increases the risk of insecurity among children.
Given the damage to the infrastructure and the continuous technical evaluations, the authorities have asked the population to take temporary shelter after the powerful earthquake, which was followed by more than a thousand aftershocks in the following 24 hours.
