The Department of Education (DepEd) said that limited face-to-face classes in pilot schools located in low-risk areas would continue unless deferred by their respective local government units (LGUs).
In a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, Jan. 5, DepEd officials clarified that those schools in areas with low-risk classification would be allowed to continue holding limited in-person classes.
Following the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to place the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 due to the increase in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, DepEd suspended limited face-to-face classes in Metro Manila.
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https://mb.com.ph/2022/01/02/deped-face-to-face-classes-for-pilot-schools-in-metro-manila-suspended/
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said that the expansion phase of the limited face-to-face classes in NCR was postponed until Jan. 15, 2022, as recommended by the Department of Health (DOH).
"Even as we speak, face-to-face classes continue but only for the pilot schools that already exist," Malaluan explained in a mix of English and Filipino.
Malaluan said these include the schools in the pilot phase or those which started pilot face-to-face classes last year. More importantly, the location of these schools should not be under Alert Level 3 and up.
While pilot schools that have already started implementing limited face-to-face classes in areas under Alert Level 1 and 2 will continue, DepEd Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma said that the agency is still monitoring the situation.
Garma said that the continued implementation of the pilot run in these schools would still depend on sustainability influenced by several factors.
The concurrence of local government units (LGUs), securing the consent of the parents --- among others --- are very crucial in the implementation of face-to-face classes, Garma explained.
Garma said that due to the Omicron variant, some LGUs --- in areas where the implementation of pilot classes is ongoing--- might defer the implementation of limited face-to-face learning during this time.
"We would like to emphasize that we still work under that Shared Responsibility framework for our pilot face-to-face classes," he added.