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.

The measures come in response to the impacts of El Niño and increasingly extreme weather conditions.

DepEd said its preparedness strategy focuses on continuous risk assessments, updated contingency plans, and flexible learning options to protect learners and school personnel when heat indices rise.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara has directed the fast-tracking of climate change concepts into basic education learning competencies, aligning the initiative with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’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.”

To maintain safe and healthy learning environments, schools have also been directed to prioritize heat and water security by ensuring access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities; providing safe drinking water; addressing leaks; and improving classroom ventilation.

School authorities are likewise authorized to adjust class schedules or shift to alternative learning modalities during periods of extreme heat.

DepEd is also strengthening school-level monitoring and reporting systems to track heat index levels, water availability, class suspensions, and health incidents in real time, enabling more targeted allocation of resources.