DepEd postpones Nationwide School Safety Drill due to inclement weather

DepEd postpones Nationwide School Safety Drill due to inclement weather

​The Department of Education (DepEd) has officially postponed the nationwide school safety drill scheduled for August 25, moving it to next week. The postponement comes after numerous reports of face-to-face class cancellations across various areas due to inclement weather.

​In a morning dispatch, Assistant Secretary (ASEC) RD Joyce announced the rescheduling and informed stakeholders that a formal advisory would be released within the day.

​The August 25 event was intended to be a nationwide active-threat drill, designed to test how quickly schools can respond, evacuate, and safely reunite students with their families during active human-induced threats. A major component of the drill focuses on the reunification stage, ensuring that students, parents, medical responders, and police are efficiently directed to designated safe areas instead of converging chaotically.

​This security initiative was ordered as the department applies lessons learned from recent school shooting incidents in Tacloban and Zamboanga City. The drill aims to ensure schools have established procedures for responding immediately to violence and active attack incidents.

​To ensure a smooth transition for the new schedule, all DepEd Regional Directors have been directed to immediately coordinate with their counterparts in the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).