July class opening in Marawi likely

THE opening of classes in public elementary and high schools in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, may be moved to next month because of damages to property brought about by armed clashes between government troops and the terrorist Maute Group in the city, according to a high-ranking official of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We [had] postponed the opening of classes in this city for two weeks but it can be extended. We’re telling them [the students] that it may be [beyond] June 19, though it is not yet final . . . [we are preparing]to transfer them [to other schools] in the meantime,” Tonisito Umali, DepEd assistant secretary for legal and legislative affairs, told this reporter in an interview on Thursday.