The Department of Education (DepEd) has reassured students that their welfare was of “prime concern” amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), contrary to a teachers’ group accusation that the agency had violated its own order discouraging large student gatherings to contain the virus.
Aside from a police-organized event in a Quezon City school that drew hundreds of students on Feb. 10, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said senior high school students were recently permitted to conduct off-campus work immersions at municipal police stations.
Accusing the teachers’ union of sowing “haphazard intrigue,” DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua said on Wednesday that the DepEd was “strengthening its measures” against COVID-19.
“All of you can count on being the priority of DepEd,” Pascua said. “Not just your health but your continued success in your studies,” he added. —Matthew Reysio-Cruz