Some 300 public schools are ready to take part in the dry run of the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes if President Rodrigo Duterte approves it this school year.
Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones said during Monday’s online media forum for the agency’s 123rd founding anniversary that the number of schools may change depending on the “behavior” of the new variants of the virus and the assessment of the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“Umabot ng 1,900 in-approve ng mga regional director. Pero sabi ng Senate, sobrang malaki, so na-reduce to 600 (The regional directors approved 1,900 schools. But the Senate said it’s too big so we reduced it to 600),” she said.
DepEd further reduced the number of schools to 300 to ensure qualification for stringent requirements like facilities’ readiness, approval of local government units, consent of parents, and transportation.
Earlier, Duterte approved the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes in January 2021 but canceled it after the detection of more transmissible coronavirus variants.
If approved, Briones said the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes will take place only in areas categorized as low risk or under modified general community quarantine.
In the same forum, DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said home-based learning would continue to be an option for learners even if the Covid-19 pandemic ends.
“We will recognize that it’s not just face-to-face classes that will be the ways for learners to be able to learn. We will allow learners who opt to do home-based learning on certain days,” San Antonio said.
As for the learning modules flagged for errors, San Antonio said the DepEd is looking into them and is analyzing self-learning modules which could still be reused.
The DepEd has yet to announce the exact date of school opening for academic year 2021-2022.
The current school year is set to end on July 10. (PNA)
