The Department of Education (DepEd) will adhere to the decision of President Duterte on extending the postponement of pilot face-to-face classes and expressed readiness to implement it once approved in the coming months.
Issuing a statement Wednesday night, Feb. 24, DepEd said that “existing laws expressly provide power to the President to make final decisions on education policies.”
President Duterte on Monday, Feb. 22, rejected once again the DepEd’s recommendation to implement limited in-person classes noting that he did not want to endanger the lives of students and teachers especially since the roll-out of the national coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine program has yet to start.
“We understand that the availability and roll out of vaccines in the country are critical factors for this undertaking,” DepEd said.
In the meantime, DepEd said that it will continue to prepare action plans for this activity “should the President give his approval in the coming months.”
DepEd said that it has previously laid out stringent conditions to field offices should the implementation of limited face-to-face classes be finally allowed.
First, DepEd said that the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes will only take place only in areas categorized as low-risk or at least under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
“There must be a commitment for shared responsibility of DepEd, the local government unit (LGU), the parents or guardians and the providers of transportation,” DepEd said.
Furthermore, DepEd said that “stringent health and safety standards shall be followed at home, during travel to and from the schools, and within school premises.”
To date, DepEd said that 1,904 public schools nationwide have already been identified as possible participants for the pilot study of limited physical classes.
“We shall continue to coordinate with national and local authorities and health experts, parents, teachers and service providers,” DepEd assured.
Likewise, DepEd said that it also started consulting various stakeholders to address challenges in the distance learning set-up. “Most importantly, we have been in constant dialogue with our student-leaders and learners to formulate informed strategies and policy direction that will best serve their interest in these trying times,” it ended.