With the continued rollout of the government’s inoculation program against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of Education (DepEd) reminded that the use of schools as vaccination sites should be approved by its local officials first.
“Meanwhile, on the use of schools as vaccination centers, DepEd gives the responsibility to approve or deny requests of LGUs to use DepEd schools for activities related to the COVID-19 outbreak to Regional Directors ,” the department said.
DepEd added that such move should be consistent with the OM-OSEC-2020-002 which sets the guidance to regional directors for action on requests by local government units (LGUs) to use DepEd schools for activities related to COVID-19 such as for quarantine or isolation areas.
The department noted that the same guidance can also be used by RDs for approving or denying requests of LGUs for the use of schools vaccination activities.
Issued in March 2020, the said guidance was issued by DepEd soon after the President enjoined government agencies and LGUs to “render full assistance and cooperation and mobilize the necessary resources to undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat.”
DepEd also issued the guidance after receiving a “growing number of requests” by various LGUs for the use of DepEd schools specifically as places for quarantine or isolation as part of their response to COVID-19.
The matter of utilization of schools as for activities related to COVID-19, DepEd said, has been discussed in the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) already wherein it was agreed that “any decision concerning public schools should be made in consultation with DepEd, and in cooperation with DepEd officials on the ground and in compliance with the Department of Health (DOH) guidelines, with due consideration to specific conditions.”
As part of DepEd’s support to the government’s vaccination program, the agency also launched in May a campaign called “Vacc2School: Ligtas na Bakuna para sa Balik-Eskwela.” The said campaign aims to promote informed decisions on COVID-19 vaccination.
Aside from integrating related materials into its multimedia platforms, DepEd has also been conducting town halls and webinars in its field offices in line with the initiative.
Meanwhile, DepEd Bureau of Learners Support Services (BLSS) Director Lope B. Santos III also emphasized that the department remains committed to helping the national government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Tayo sa Kagawaran, tuloy-tuloy ang pagsuporta at paggawa natin ng paraan para maisulong itong NDVP (We in the department, we will continue to support and work on ways to advance this NDVP),” Santos said.
“Nakikita natin na malaki ang gampanin ng DepEd lalo na’t tayo ang largest government bureaucracy, kaya kung kinakailangan ng tulong natin ay bibigay natin ito (We see that DepEd has a big role to play, especially since we are the largest government bureaucracy, so if our help is needed, we will provide it),” he added.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/25/deped-extends-support-to-covid-19-vaccination-program-of-the-government/