With the planned expansion of limited face-to-face classes next year, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed optimism that more schools will be allowed to reopen their doors to their students.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Dec. 28, DepEd said that Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones met teachers and student-leaders of the National Capital Region (NCR) as the agency set its plans to implement limited face-to-face classes in more schools in 2022.
Currently, DepEd said that 28 public schools in Metro Manila are implementing limited face-to-face classes as part of the pilot phase.
As Briones listened to inspiring stories of hope and success of teachers and learners amidst the pandemic at the Tanghalang Rizal auditorium in Rizal High School (RHS) during the meeting, she expressed hope that more schools in Metro Manila and nationwide will be allowed to offer limited face-to-face classes by January 2022.
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https://mb.com.ph/2021/12/28/deped-to-proceed-with-its-plans-to-expand-further-the-implementation-of-face-to-face-classes/
The limited pilot implementation of face-to-face classes started in November to December 2021.
The Expansion Phase, based on DepEd’s timeline, will start in January 2022.
Meanwhile, transitioning to “New Normal” is scheduled to start in School Year (SY) 2022-2023.
Based on the operational design, the pilot phase included 100 public schools and 20 private schools. The participating schools must have concurrence from the local government unit (LGU); located in low-risk areas (at least level 2) and passed the school safety assessment tool (SSAT).
The pilot run only covered learners who were given consent by their parents to join the face-to-face classes. Only students with no co-morbidities in Kindergarten to Grade 3 (Elementary) and those who are taking TVL Track for Senior High School (SHS) were allowed to join.
The class sizes were also limited with only 12 students Kinder; 16 for Grades 1 to 3; 12 for SHS Laboratory.
All teachers and school personnel involved in the pilot were required to be vaccinated against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
After her engagement at RHS, Briones visited Pasig City Science High School (PaSciHS), one of the top performing schools in the Philippines in the last edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), to listen to the school’s best practices in attaining learners’ good academic performance.
PaSciHS, along with 19 other schools, exceeded the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in the said international assessment.
The said activities were part of Briones’ plan to meet “learners and teachers in every region to personally engage them in improving the basic education system” before her term as Education Chief ends in June 2022.
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