Over 300 schools have been assessed and were considered qualified to commence face-to-face classes under the expansion phase, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
Citing its recent data, DepEd said that there were 304 schools located in areas under Alert Level 1 or 2 areas that were qualified to commence face-to-face classes.
Based on the COVID Alert Levels for Feb. 1 to 15, 2022 as issued under Inter-Agency Task (IATF) Resolution No. 159-A dated Jan. 29, there are 304 public schools located in Alert Level 2 areas which include schools in the National Capital Region (NCR), Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Biliran, and Southern Leyte.
Based on the report from its Regional Directors, DepEd said that face-to-face classes in Metro Manila will resume from Feb. 9 onwards.
In Cagayan Valley, expanded face-to-face classes were scheduled to start from Feb. 7 to 11 while schools in Central Luzon are set to start face-to-face classes on Feb. 21.
Meanwhile, the identified schools in Region IV-A and Region VIII will start holding face-to-face classes anytime between Feb. 7 to 14.
DepEd said that the rest of the regions and divisions outside of those already under Alert Level 2 are also continuing their preparations for the expanded phase of face-to-face classes once there are improvements in the COVID Alert Levels in their respective areas.
Data from DepEd also showed that 6,347 schools were already “assessed and deemed ready” for the expansion phase of limited face-to-face classes.
However, only the 304 schools under Alert Levels 1 and 2 will be allowed to implement expanded face-to-face classes. The remaining 6, 043 schools that are located in areas under Alert Level 3 will not be allowed to implement expanded face-to-face classes yet.