Private schools gearing up for online classes amid Delta variant threat

At home in Calamba, Laguna, a child wears a school uniform as she attends her second-grade online class conducted by a private school in Makati. This photo was taken on Aug. 10, 2020. (File photo by CHRIS QUINTANA / Inquirer Southern Luzon)

MANILA, Philippines — Several private schools nationwide have vowed to proceed with online classes despite a surge in COVID-19 cases and the threat of the Delta variant, according to the Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA).

“COCOPEA member schools are resolved to continue with online learning for this school year,” COCOPEA Chair Dr. Anthony Tamayo said in a statement on Friday.

“The presidents of the associations that comprise COCOPEA agree that the safety of our students and stakeholders at this time of the pandemic is our paramount concern,” he added.

According to him, schools that are part of COCOPEA are putting their resources on improving their online infrastructure to ensure that online classes would be seamless.

“Online learning allows us to keep both our students and teachers safe while accomplishing our mission of delivering quality education,” Tamayo said.

Metro Manila and other highly-populated areas — like Cagayan de Oro City and the provinces of Laguna, Bataan, and Iloilo —are under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to an uptick in COVID-19 infections, said to be caused by the Delta variant.

For the school year 2021 to 2022 — which is expected to start on Sept. 13 — the Department of Education has maintained that distance learning methods would stay.

READ: DepEd releases school calendar for SY 2021-2022

Meanwhile, COCOPEA will ensure that health protocols would be followed.

“We have been strictly enforcing these protocols since the pandemic began. We continue to be cautious and practice vigilance especially now with the spread of the Delta variant,” Tamayo added.

COCOPEA is an umbrella organization of private schools with around 2,500 members. Affiliated organizations include the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU); the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP); the Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAPSCU); the Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU); and the Tech-Voc Schools Association of the Philippines (TVSA).

Earlier, the Department of Health said that the country again broke its record for the highest single-day jump in cases, with 14,249 new infections, pushing the number of active cases to 98,847.

ATM