Three weeks before classes for School Year (SY) 2022-2023 formally start, the Department of Education (DepEd) expressed readiness to open its schools nationwide.
“We are all set to open our schools all over the country 22 days from now,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said during the 2022 “Brigada Eskwela” national kick-off on Monday, Aug. 1 at the Imus Pilot Elementary School in Cavite.
While DepEd is doing all the necessary preparations for the opening of classes for the incoming school year, Duterte admitted that the school opening might be “causing both excitement and a little bit of uneasiness or anxiety to some of our teachers, some parents, and maybe to some of our learners.”
Duterte noted that the activities related to “Brigada Eskwela” signify that schools are preparing for school opening.
However, given the current public health situation, Duterte acknowledged the “uneasiness or anxiety” that education stakeholders might feel “because of the peculiarity of our time now.”
Aside from facing the threats of the Covid-19 pandemic, Duterte noted that teachers, parents, and students alike may also encounter “many other unexpected challenges that hamper our daily progress for our learners” such as monkeypox, floods, typhoons, and earthquakes.
While all these may seem inevitable, Duterte expressed confidence that DepEd will overcome these challenges. “What is important is that we have the determination to succeed in our mission,” she said.
As announced by DepEd earlier, SY 2022-2023 will start on Aug. 22 and will end on July 7, 2023.
Based on the guidelines released by DepEd, the resumption of five days of in-person classes will be implemented this school year.
SY 2022-2023 will have 203 school days or as may be determined by further issuance/s in case of changes in the school calendar due to unforeseen circumstances.
DepEd only prescribed the options of five days of in-person classes, blended learning modality, and full distance learning until Oct. 31, 2022.
Starting Nov. 2, DepEd has directed all public and private schools to transition to five days of in-person classes.