Truancy, when a student does not attend school for a good reason, is a serious problem in education, but there are certainly acceptable and mitigating circumstances behind absences like inclement weather. In fact, schools are often suspended for the safety of pupils, teachers and staff when weather conditions are considered hazardous. Take, for example, the current flooding of the National Capital Region in the Philippines:
School disruptions especially with climate change are likely to become more frequent. At Georgetown University, for example, faculty are encouraged to devise ways to minimize interruptions in instruction. There is in fact a web resource at the university devoted to this issue:
Instructional Continuity
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| To visit this page, please click here |
Of course, the tools and strategies provided above may not at all be possible in the Philippines. Much of the examples require a dependable and accessible internet, which is not necessarily present in all of the households in the country. But there are strategies that can be implemented without the world wide web. This simply requires planning ahead of time and designing homework which students can then do in case schools are suspended. These activities could be as simple as reading and writing assignments, or answering worksheets in mathematics. Learning does not have to stop if schools are closed. And as important, one reason why schools are closed during inclement weather is the safety of the children. This should likewise not be overlooked.
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| Children enjoying the river in Paete, Laguna after the monsoon rains |
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