Parents and teachers often fill the funding gaps in school maintenance by donating electric fans and paint or offering free labour. - AFP
MANILA: As 27 million Filipino students returned to school in June, teachers' groups said classrooms remain ill-equipped to withstand climate disasters and prevent learning loss due to insufficient funding for education.
Over the past decade, the government had adjusted school calendars to avoid typhoon season, which typically begins in June. After heatwaves forced schools to shut down in the summer months of April and May, the government reverted to a June-to-March school calendar this year to avoid the peak heat index.
