CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Department of Education (DepEd) Central Luzon said Thursday the usual two weeks of Christmas vacation for public elementary and high schools in disaster-stricken areas would be cut short in half.

The Yuletide Season may not be as merry for students in disaster areas, as DepEd orders shorter vacation as to enable schools to meet the required 204 days of classes this school year.

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DepEd's Magadalena Roque announced this during a press conference at the Office of Civil Defense in Barangay Sindalan here last Thursday.

She said even the recently introduced semestral break in elementary and high school was already set aside in many disaster areas to compensate for the school days lost during the recent onslaught of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

Roque reported that some schools in Zambales, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and some areas in Pampanga have been used as evacuation centers, causing cancellation of classes among the schools affected.

"Our schools are mandated to be automatic evacuation centers during calamities and there is nothing we can do about that. But currently our affected schools are doing all they can to compensate for the lost time," she said.

Roque said holding of "makeup classes" was necessary to attain the required 204 class days in a school year. Remedial classes are usually held on Saturdays and semestral breaks. The DepEd calendar states the school year shall begin on June 1, 2009, and end on March 31, 2010. There should be 54 class days in the first quarter, 48 in the second, 51 in the third and 51 in the last quarter, according to Roque.

"It would be more ideal if we have facilities that could house evacuees aside from schools. But right now our school officials are doing all they can to be flexible of the situation," she said.

Roque said that in case of more floods due to future typhoons, school facilities are ready to assist would-be disaster victims. However, in case of such scenario, Roque said even the 2010 summer vacation may also be affected as schools would have to make-up for lost classes.