AT LEAST 15 million students were affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the Department of Education said.

“Odette” was the most powerful typhoon to hit the country this year, making nine landfalls in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Reports released on Friday said the typhoon affected 3,744 schools and 1,756,316 students in Central Visayas. In Western Visayas, 4,034 schools and 1,851,735 learners were affected.

DepEd reported that the affected schools were hit by secondary hazards such as flooding, landslides or storm surge.

The education agency also said that 425 schools in Eastern Visayas, 141 in Western Visayas and 54 in Central Visayas were used as evacuation centers.

There are 671 schools that are being used as evacuation centers.

“We started coordinating with the school division offices and schools affected by the typhoon, so that we could provide the initial assistance to them,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.