An official of the Department of Education (DepEd) here on Tuesday said there were no significant problems reported during the first week of implementation of the limited face-to-face classes in this capital city.

“We have not actually received any reports of critical concerns, such as (Covid-19) infections, but we are doing close monitoring to establish a sense of confidence for our parents to see that the schools are safe,” Gregorio Cyrus Elejorde, DepEd-Dumaguete division superintendent, told the Philippine News Agency.

Elejorde said the limited in-person classes reeled off May 16 with specific scheduled hours allocated for each batch of learners in every school.

“These schools were allowed to resume limited face-to-face classes after having passed the SSAT (School Safety Assessment Tool) of the Department of Health against the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), which guarantees the strict implementation of health and safety protocols to protect everyone at school,” he said.

About 20 percent or 6,000 learners of the total population of students in this capital are participating in the in-person classes, he added.

“We are expecting the numbers to grow gradually as our schools move forward to the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes,” he said.

Elejorde said the purpose of the limited face-to-face classes is to “set the mechanisms for the full implementation next year and we do not want to provide abrupt changes in the process”.

Slight adjustments will be made regularly on procedures, strategies, and other areas of learning as the transition begins to full resumption of in-person classes, he added.

Currently, the 10 schools are using the blended modality, with a number of hours for learners to spend in the classroom with their teachers and the asynchronous method such as the use of modules.

“It varies, depends on the schools and the teachers because we do not want to congest our schools with all the learners, that is why the schedules are not uniform,” Elejorde said. (PNA)