According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Typhoon Ma-on, known as Florita in the Philippines, made landfall in Maconacon, Isabela province at 10:30 a.m. local time. Heavy rains swept across much of northern Luzon - the country's largest and most populous island - forcing PASAGA to issue widespread flood and landslide warnings.
Typhoon Ma-on forced schools across the northern Philippines to close on August 23 - just one day after in-person learning in the country resumed after the world's longest COVID-19 closure.
Public schools will close for two days starting on August 23 in Manila, the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Zambales and Bataan - according to the announcement posted on Facebook by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
CNN reported that Philippine authorities had evacuated more than 540 people in advance to shelters and flood warnings had been issued for the provinces of Zambales, tarlac, Bataan and Pampanga.
According to the Philippine Ministry of Education, more than 28 million students returned to school nationwide on August 22. Plans to lift COVID-19 prevention restrictions, implemented in March 2020, have stalled due to concerns that slow vaccine implementation for students and teachers could lead to new outbreaks.
In a statement on August 22, UNICEF said the prolonged closure had hampered the educational development of millions of children in the country.
"During school closures, minimizing health risks and household income shocks has the biggest impact on learning, leading to many children in the Philippines not being able to read and understand a simple document at the age of 10" - UNICEF said.
