In response to the impact of El Niño and extreme weather conditions, the Department of Education (DepEd) is enhancing its operational protocols to help schools cope with rising temperatures while strengthening climate change instruction across basic education, following directives from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
DepEd’s preparedness strategy focuses on continuous risk assessments, updated contingency plans, and flexible learning options to protect learners and school personnel when heat indices spike.
Alongside the operational measures, Education Secretary Sonny Angara directed the fast-tracking of the integration of climate change concepts into basic education learning competencies to align with the President’s environmental resilience agenda.
“We are taking the marching orders of President Bongbong Marcos to heart. Climate literacy must start early, and it must start in our classrooms,” Angara said. “If we teach our learners simple, actionable habits today, such as proper waste segregation and keeping our surroundings clean, we are equipping them with life skills that directly protect their communities tomorrow.”
Secretary Angara emphasized that effective climate action requires coordination among schools, local government units, and families to mitigate risks before extreme weather hits.
To maintain safe and healthy learning spaces, schools have also been directed to prioritize heat and water security by setting up water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, providing safe drinking water, fixing leaks, and improving classroom ventilation.
School authorities are further authorized to adjust class schedules or shift to alternative learning modalities during periods of extreme heat.
DepEd is also strengthening its school-level monitoring and reporting systems to track heat index levels, water availability, class suspensions, and health incidents in real time for targeted resource allocation.
Secretary Angara emphasized that effective climate action requires coordination among schools, local government units, and families to mitigate risks before extreme weather hits.
“Disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation are matters of shared accountability. DepEd will do its part by embedding these real-world solutions into our curriculum so that every learner knows their role in safeguarding our environment,” Angara said.
To maintain safe and healthy learning spaces, schools have also been directed to prioritize heat and water security by setting up water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities, providing safe drinking water, fixing leaks, and improving classroom ventilation.
Under the updated basic education curriculum, climate concepts build progressively across grade levels.
The curriculum transitions from nurturing basic environmental care and protection in Kindergarten to Grade 3, to evaluating environmental concerns like air quality and waste management in Grades 4 to 6, and exploring scientific drivers of global warming, mitigation strategies, and global advocacies in Junior High School (Grades 7 to 10).
These competencies are embedded across four core learning areas. In Science for Grades 9 to 10, lessons focus on global warming evidence, greenhouse gases, biodiversity conservation during environmental crises, and local climate solutions, including renewable energy adoption.
Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) for Grades 1 to 3 and Values Education for Grades 7 to 10 emphasize family climate responses, resource conservation stewardship such as reducing food, water, and power consumption, and participation in local and global environmental advocacies. Physical Education and Health for Grade 6 addresses environmental concerns and climate impacts using the One Health concept.
Meanwhile, Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) and Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) for Grades 4 to 10 teach practical mitigation skills, actionable solutions to lessen climate impacts, and adaptive farming practices through its agriculture component.
To complement classroom lessons, DepEd is encouraging school-level activities through the Youth for Environment in Schools Organization (YES-O), where student clubs organize environmental activities such as campus waste segregation, local cleanups, and drainage maintenance to prevent trash from blocking waterways.
