DepEd revises safety assessment tool for in-person classes

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has revised the School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) to help prepare schools in undertaking the expansion of in-person classes.

“We ensure that the health, safety, and well-being of our learners, teachers, and personnel remain our utmost priority. Our revised SSAT will help the Department mobilize the progressive expansion of our face-to-face classes in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement issued on Tuesday

According to DepEd, the SSAT was updated based on the monitoring and evaluation outcomes during the pilot implementation of in-person classes, as well as the current conditions of the schools being allowed to reopen.

It further explained that the revised SSAT now focuses on four main areas:

• managing school operations
• focusing on teaching and learning
• well-being
• protection

DepEd said that under the “managing school operations,” schools need to receive support from community stakeholders, emphasizing the shared responsibility framework.

The main indicator that guarantees the school’s readiness, said DepEd, “is securing a sufficient supply of learning resources needed in the expansion and design of class programs that cater to both learners in face-to-face class arrangement and distance learning education.”

Schools are also required to conduct simulation activities among school personnel in the form of managing the conduct of in-person classes and ensuring that students who will participate in the expansion must submit parents’ consent.

Apart from these, participating schools must also devise measures to limit COVID-19 transmission among stakeholders — while maintaining basic mental health and psychosocial care to assure their safety and well-being.

Each school must also prepare an implementation strategy for coordinating with the local government to ensure that health and safety standards are followed correctly.

“Our SSAT will not be the final determinant if a school will participate in our progressive expansion. It is our way to prepare our schools for the eventual reopening and to inform them of the required indicators and standards that they need to meet to ensure the safety of our learners and school personnel,” Briones said.

DepEd said that as of April 18, 26,997 schools have already been nominated by the regions to participate in the expansion of face-to-face classes.

Of these schools, 23,963 are already implementing the progressive expansion of in-person classes.

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