90 public schools can hold in-person classes – DepEd

FACE 2 FACE READY- A grade school teacher of Aurora Quezon Elementary school in Manila demonstrates how a face-to-face class would look like amid the pandemic, with plastic barriers separating each armchair from one another and teachers wearing PPE during class. The Dept. of Education has not yet approved any schools for physical classes however several schools in Manila have volunteered for the pilot run of face-to-face classes from Kinder to Grade3.
INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

The Department of Education (DepEd) has identified 90 out of the 100 public schools that would be allowed to hold in-person classes as part of the pilot implementation of the program, Secretary Leonor Briones said on Monday.

Briones said the DepEd would continue to identify more public schools to reach the target of 100, while the risk assessment of 20 private schools for inclusion in the pilot program is ongoing.

An international school has likewise submitted a complete plan for in-person classes, and this will be reviewed by the Department of Health, Briones said.

The in-person classes are scheduled to begin on Nov. 15 for public schools, and Nov. 22 for private schools.

“The public response has been very good because they have been waiting for this for so long. We are taking all the possible precautions because we know that the President does not want to expose learners, teachers and staff to danger,” Briones said at a Palace briefing.

Some backed out

The 90 schools are located in different regions of the country except Metro Manila, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera Autonomous Region, Mimaropa and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

According to Briones, some local governments have backed out from allowing the resumption of classes due to changing risk assessments, but there have also been those, which have written the DepEd to seek inclusion in the pilot program due to improving COVID-19 numbers.

Safety concerns

Some parents have also raised concerns about the safety of their children, she noted.

If they change their minds about allowing children to return to school, the DepEd will not force them to do so, she said.

The DepEd’s obligation is to explain to them that it has taken all possible precautions necessary to keep students and the schools safe, she added.

She also said that in the 90 public schools so far allowed to hold in-person classes, 93.2 percent of the personnel were already vaccinated.

“Of course there is a preference, and the parents have also expressed this, that they would want vaccinated staff and teachers to attend to their child,” she said.

The DepEd would coordinate with the National Task Force Against COVID-19 for the continued vaccination of school personnel.

Briones also said that before students would be allowed to return to the classrooms, there would be an orientation for their parents, the local government and the school personnel on the guidelines for the in-person classes.

Parents have to know their roles because there have been instances when children have caught the coronavirus at home and in public transportation, she said.

The in-person classes would also be different from what was held before the pandemic struck, as students would only be allowed in school for a limited number of hours and at specific places, she said. INQ