Education Ministry Report Says 140 Schools Affected by Rains from Hurricane Sandy

Education Ministry Report Says 140 Schools Affected by Rains from Hurricane Sandy
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo 10/29/2012

According to a preliminary report prepared by the General Directorate of School Infrastructure Maintenance of the Ministry of Education (MINERD in Spanish), as of noon on Friday, about 140 schools nationwide had reported being affected by rains from Hurricane Sandy.

Flooding in some educational centers caused walls and perimeter fences to collapse, damaged electrical and restroom facilities, caused computer malfunctions in technology centers, among other problems; losses to date are estimated to exceed 500 million pesos.

Flooding in some educational centers caused walls and perimeter fences to collapse, damaged electrical and restroom facilities, caused computer malfunctions in technology centers, among other problems; losses to date are estimated to exceed 500 million pesos.

Omar de Jesús Guevara, general director of School Infrastructure Maintenance, said that when the downpours cease, several commissions will head to the affected areas, mainly in the southwestern region, to gather definitive information, calculate the damage and prepare the budget for repairing the affected schools.

However, he added that there are two brigades working in Mao, Valverde province, and in the Juan Pablo Duarte School in Cotuí, to correct leaks from the bathroom plumbing.

He said the measures taken have been under the guidance of Minister of Education Josefina Pimentel, who follows up on the reports prepared in collaboration with the regional directors and school districts across the country.

“In classrooms where classes cannot be taught because ofmajor structural damage, we expect to move students to other spaces on the campuses,so that they don’t miss classes while the work on the situation is underway,” said Mr. Guevara.

He said that, as of noonon Friday, reports indicated that themajor damagecaused by the rainshadbeenthe collapseof iron grates, in the Greater SantoDomingo area,and in other regions, and he citedthe schoolsRepública de Belice, Manuel B. Troncoso and República de Ecuador in Eastern Santo Domingo,and othercampusesof National Districtwithslight damage. Meanwhile, 19 computerswere damagedat HainamosaPolytechnicby waters that flooded the computer lab.

“We haven’tbeen able toget intothe interior,because many areashave been cut off;and we can’tdo the work requiredin theseareasuntil thetorrentialdownpoursdiminishin intensity,”said Guevara.

Schools will be protected

Guevara reported that the School Policewill maintain constant vigilance in the schools affected bythe collapse of their wallsandperimeter fencing to safeguard assets and thus prevent delinquents from taking advantage ofthe situation and entering to steal.