DepEd to ‘strongly’ push for expansion of face-to-face classes

FILE PHOTO Grade 10 student Jason Solis with his cousin John Matthew, a Grade 8 student, attend orientation on the first day of class via online in their home in Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City in March 2021. They are among the 22.5 million students in public schools in the country who have finally resumed their studies after much delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic through distance learning, implemented nationwide by the Department of Education. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) planned to “strongly” recommend and push for the “progressive expansion” of face-to-face classes, an official said Friday.

According to DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan, the department will hold a meeting with the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday to discuss a “more detailed outlook” in terms of in-person classes in the country.

“There will be some refinements on certain aspects ‘no, kagaya noong paglalagay ng mga physical barriers and so on… and addressing some challenges… But overall, subject lang doon sa aming pagpupulong with DOH, maybe we can recommend and really strongly push for the progressive expansion of the face-to-face classes,” he said during a Laging Handa briefing.

(There will be some refinements on certain aspects like the putting up of physical barriers and so on and addressing some challenges, but overall, subject to our meeting with the DOH, maybe we can recommend and really strongly push for the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes.)

Early this month, the pilot face-to-face classes in Metro Manila were deferred after the nation’s capital was reverted to Alert Level 3 amid rising COVID-19 cases.

This affected the timetable for the planned expanded phase of in-person classes, which was supposed to cover all grade levels from Kinder to Grade 12.

The DepEd, according to Malaluan, will present its report to President Rodrigo Duterte regarding the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in December last year.

“Iyong ating kinonsolidate na report that we are set to submit to the Office of the President ay naging matagumpay iyong ating pilot face-to-face,” Malaluan said.

(The report we are consolidating that we are set to submit to the Office of the President is that our pilot implementation was successful.)

He said the DepEd received “very favorable” responses from learners, teachers and parents in a survey it conducted on “various evaluation parameters.”

He noted that overall attendance of students during the pilot run was at 83 percent.

“Iyong feeling of safety noong mga bata at saka mga magulang, ang mga guro ay mataas din ang kanilang feedback [The feeling of safety among the children, the parents and teachers was also high],” he said.

“In the 90s level of the respondents said that they felt safe during the conduct of the pilot face-to-face,” Malaluan added.

He added that DepEd received a “high” mark in terms of satisfaction with the implementation of the health and safety protocols and “very positve” feedback on how having physical classes contributed in the teaching of educators and learning of students.

“The confidence to continue the implementation and to expand ay very high din [is also very high],” Malaluan further said.

EDV