50 public schools in Central Visayas ready for in-person classes

CEBU CITY—At least 50 public schools in Central Visayas are ready to hold in-person classes, the Department of Education (DepEd) in the region said. There is, however, no timeline yet as to when it will start, according to DepEd regional director Salustiano Jimenez.

“It will be up to our central office and President Duterte to approve our recommendation,” he said.

Among the requirements for a school to be allowed to hold in-person classes are classroom design, availability of health protocol, as well as recommendations from the Department of Health, local governments, school divisions, and parent-teachers association, among others.

Jimenez said there were a lot of schools that had complied with the requirements but only 50 were recommended to be included in the first batch that would hold in-person classes.

The recommended schools include six in Bohol, nine in Siquijor, 13 in Negros Oriental, and 22 from Cebu provinces.

For Cebu, the list includes those from highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

The current school year ends by July 2021 and early registration for the next school year will be from March 26 to April 30, said Jimenez.

Early registration will focus on incoming students for kindergarten, and for Grades 1, 7, and 11.

“We’re also doing this so that the schools can count how many classrooms, supplies and teachers are needed,” Jimenez said.

The early registration, he said, will help DepEd-7 identify and locate learners living with disabilities; living in off-grid areas, or geographically isolated areas; living in barangays without schools; those displaced due to natural disasters; those living in armed conflict-affected areas; victims of child abuse and economic exploitation; and those who are no longer in school, but are still interested in going back to school, among others. —DALE G. ISRAEL