The Leyte provincial government will meet with mayors to discuss the plan of the Department of Education (DepEd) to resume face-to-face classes in selected areas next year.

Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla told reporters on Monday he has to discuss the implications of DepEd’s decision to conduct actual classes in schools.

The DepEd regional office has selected 14 schools in four provinces to be part of the pilot testing of face-to-face classes in January, including three campuses in Leyte province, which the education department in the region has declined to name.

Petilla said among the recommendations they will raise with DepEd is to have stand-by nurses, health workers, and emergency workers in schools to regularly monitor the health condition of schoolchildren. Swabbers should also be able to immediately test suspected cases.

Petilla said all education stakeholders must agree to the plan for it to be implemented prior to the pilot test.

The governor added that if he has to choose the schools that could implement the face-to-face classes, this should be in areas with zero coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases or in remote villages where there is a very low probability of virus transmission.

“If this will be in upland villages, this will be better compared to implement it in urban areas because most of our Covid-19 cases are in the town center,” he said.

School officials will be going to the community to ask parents if they would allow their children to participate in the pilot testing of face-to-face classes.

School officials are encouraged to prepare and come up with a management plan for students and classrooms.

DepEd Eastern Visayas regional information officer Jazmin Calzita said in a press briefing that face-to-face classes will not require all students to attend as it is “voluntary”.

“This is voluntary, meaning with parent’s permit. No learner is allowed to participate without parent’s permit,” she said.

She added that the schools that would be selected are from areas under the modified general community quarantine status, and pointed out that implementing the face-to-face classes is a shared responsibility between the agency, local government unit, and the students’ parents. (PNA)