Rebuilding a wall at EPM
The new academic year will start without any delays for the vast majority of Macau schools. This information was provided to the Times following direct contact with some school institutions.
Although all admit to having suffered extensive damage due to the passage of the Typhoon Hato last week, all of them offered the same reply: the planned start date at the beginning of the new month will be met with guarantees of safety for students, teachers and staff.
Contacted by the Times, the principal of The International School of Macao (TIS), Howard Stribbell said “the school year will begin on time,” adding nevertheless that typhoon Hato caused “extensive damage to the trees on the campus,” damage that extends also to “the outside of the building, but it will not affect classes.”
Stribbell also noted that a few windows at the school were broken but that such damage did not occur, “in classrooms or essential instructional areas.”
Although the school is starting on time, students can expect some changes to their daily activities as some areas at the school, such as the outdoor basketball courts, outdoor classroom, and two playgrounds, will be closed either for safety reasons or to aid in the clean up procedures.
Ready to start from today is also D. José da Costa Nunes Kindergarten. The President of the Association for Macanese Education, Miguel de Senna Fernandes, who is also responsible for the kindergarten management, told the Times that there was “few damage to the exterior areas,” “everything is under control,” and the damage will not affect the year’s start date.
The Macau Portuguese School (EPM) also acknowledged damage to its facilities. The school board mentioned immediately after the passage of Hato that the damage was extensive in some areas of the school.
Nevertheless, Zélia De Oliveira Baptista, vice president of the school’s board of directors told the Times that their school year, “will start as originally planned on September 6,” adding that the “[damage] has been minimized and only [requires] one last cleaning and the fixing of two small garden areas.”
As for the walls that were knocked over during the typhoon, “they have started to be rebuilt already. But since the students do not have access to those areas, it does not prevent classes from starting,” Baptista said, adding that this week the school would meet with the people who are responsible for running the canteen in order to evaluate the situation regarding the meal supply [to students].”
The vice president also noted that in case of any problems regarding canteen services, “parents will be informed about it in good time.”
In Taipa, the director of The School of Nations (SON), Vivek Nair, informed in a statement: “The School has itself been spared from major damage. We have had some minor window damage, and a little flooding in some areas that have mostly been taken care of already.”
“We are preparing in full swing for the start of the academic year.”
According to the same statement, “the devastation in the surrounding [area] are of much more concern. Further out, the reports of suffering and damage in older parts of Macau are heartrending. We, at the School, see it as our responsibility to support the efforts of the government as well as other agencies to help our community get back on its feet as soon as possible.” Nair expressed hope that all in the SON community are well and have sustained minimum damage.
As for the public schools, Escola Primária Luso-Chinesa da Flora and Escola Oficial Zheng Guanying have informed that everything is ready to kick off, as planned, by tomorrow.
As per reports by the Times, the local schools contacted confirmed the statement by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ), made earlier this week, that “90 percent of the schools are in conditions to start classes as scheduled.”
According to the same statement, only eight out of 77 Macau schools will not be able to open their doors due to serious consequences of Typhoon Hato. Among these are: Escola Primária Luso-Chinesa do Bairro Norte, Escola Luso-Chinesa de Coloane, Sheng Kung Hui Escola Choi Kou (Macau) (Kindergarten), Colégio Diocesano de São José 5 (K1 level only), Escola Madalena de Canossa and Escola de Santa Teresa.
The DSEJ took the opportunity to remind parents and guardians that in the event of problematic situations on Macau roads on the first day of classes, the Transport Bureau (DSAT) may decide to change some of the bus routes. Parents and school children are advised to leave the house earlier and take into account the latest notices from DSAT.
