Unlike in the previous years when millions of students simultaneously troop to their respective schools on the first day of classes, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday laid out various scenarios how the school opening will be on Oct. 5.

DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio, during the virtual “Handang Isip, Handa Bukas” press briefing, described various scenarios of the first day of school for the public education system as the country adopts a distance learning approach.

While scenarios for the first day of classes may vary, San Antonio assured that “when you go to the schools, you will not find a single student there.”

Learning, San Antonio explained, “will now happen at home so the first day of school may vary depending on the learning delivery modality chosen by the learners.” Under the DepEd Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP), distance/blended learning approach will be implemented this school year in the absence of face-to-face classes.

To ensure learning continuity, students and their parents were asked to choose from various alternative learning delivery modalities offered by DepEd. Given this, San Antonio explained that the first day of classes will definitely be different for each student.

Among the learning delivery modalities are modular learning (print or digitized), online learning, and television-radio based instruction. Majority of the public schools, San Antonio said, will implement Blended Learning or a combination of two or more modalities.

Students who opted for printed/offline modular learning are expected to complete their modules and activity sheets as instructed by their teachers.

For those who chose online learning, students will be logging in to their gadgets and will virtually attend their classes. Here, teachers may conduct asynchronous meetings or classes to guide their students.

Students who have chosen TV or radio-based instruction are expected to watch educational videos and episodes shown on various channels or listen to lessons converted to radio scripts.

While not all regions may implement a 1:1 student-printed module ratio, San Antonio assured that all students will have access to Self Learning Modules (SLMs) which is considered the “backbone” of distance learning.

The school year 2020-2021 will open next month after the school opening was postponed twice.