Terrain Eastern Visayas is located on the eastern edge of the Visayas island chain, facing the Pacific Ocean. The islands of Samar, Leyte, and Biliran are the main land masses. It covers an area of 21,562.9 square kilometers (2.15 million hectares). Political Divisions  Officially known as Region VIII, Eastern Visayas has 6 provinces, 12 districts, 7 cities, 136 municipalities, and 4,390 barangays.  The highly urbanized city of Tacloban is the Eastern Visayas Regional Center. Population 4, 101,322 (as of May 1, 2010) Climate The region has two types of climate: Type A (wet or rainy) and Type C (moist or rain is sufficiently distributed).

 1, 366 Schools Affected  9, 420 Partially Damaged Classrooms  2, 172 Totally Damaged Classrooms  affected 25, 975 teachers and employees and 676, 455 learners  About 30 teachers/employees and 530 pupils perished  Total Estimate Cost of Damages: P 4, 341, 230,

Haiyan greatly affected education in the Philippines. The delivery of basic educational support to children and teachers was challenged. With the depleted educational resources, children’s education was disrupted. The biggest challenged was to bring them back to school.

 Bangon DepEd Task Force  Education Cluster  Partnership and Linkages with INGOs and Government Agencies

NGOLOS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Guiuan, Eastern Samar TARGETACCOMPLISHMENT NEW CONSTRUCTION OF CLASSROOMS BEFF159100% PAGCOR779100% REPAIR OF CLASSROOMS QRF807100% BEFF163100% TYPHOON HAIYAN REPAIR OF CLASSROOMS 3, 10197% RRP607100%

“We have tried various strategies to attract students to go back to school. Life has gotten more difficult for them and their families after the typhoon, so some of them started working or have been busy lining up for relief goods. Eventually we got our students back and it felt like all those sacrifices were all worth it. We sent news to our students that school is back and encouraged the parents to send their children to school. We made sure that classrooms were ready for learning, that students will go to school not to clean but to learn.” MRS. VALERIA GABRIEL School Head CIRILO ROY MONTEJO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

“We lost all the things that we had worked hard for, but we did not lose hope. I insisted on staying for my school, my teachers and my students.” RICHARD LAURENTE School Principal of Tanauan School of Craftmanship and Home Industries “I had to keep my other children safe and healthy, otherwise the sacrifice of my eldest son would have been wasted. I realized I had to be strong for my husband, my remaining children, my school, and my self.” MELINDA TABUCAO Mother and Department Head of Basey National High School