By Armando Fenequito Jr.
DAVAO CITY -- The Department of Education in Region 11 (DepEd 11) has asked all private schools to submit their Learning Continuity Plans, especially those which will start their class this coming June despite the uncertainty of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
DepEd 11 Spokesperson Jenielito Atillo bared, in an interview on Sunday, the agency wanted to review the Learning Continuity Plans of schools, as well as the mode of classes to be undertaken by the students.
“Importante nga makita usab sa Learning Continuity Plan nga kini ilang I-employ nga teaching process, appropriate gayud para sa ilang mga bata (It is important to see in their Learning Continuity Plan, the teaching process they will employ and it should be appropriate to its learners),” he said.
Atillo said the teaching process stated in their continuity plan should be attainable because the students might suffer along the way.
He said the private schools are given the go signal to start their classes on June because of the existence of Republic Act 7797 or An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from 200 days to not more than 220 Class Days.
Atillo said that, under the said law, private schools are given the prerogative to start their classes ahead of the public schools on June 1 and later than the last day of August.
However, he clarified that there will be no face-to-face classes until August 24 which will be the start of classes in public schools.
He said aside from the Learning Continuity Plan, the DepEd 11 will also ask private schools to submit plans for the implementation of health protocols and standards such as social distancing, wearing of face mask, frequent handwashing, sanitation and other inside their schools.
Atillo said private schools must also submit their 2020-2021 school calendar because they would want to ensure that these institutions follow the calendar days.
“Ang school year 2020-2021 adunay 203 calendar days ug 180 days niana kay non-negotiable (The school year 2020-2021 has 203 calendar days and 180 days of these are non-negotiable),” he said.
He said that the 180 days must be fulfilled by the institutions without any miss of their school year calendar days because these are really intended for their learning.