A week after the mandatory return to full face-to-face classes, the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday, Nov. 7, said that 97.5 percent of public schools nationwide currently implement five days of in-person classes.
“Nakita naman po natin na naging maayos naman po ang pagre-resume natin ng classes (We saw that the resumption of our classes went well),” Poa said. Along with other DepED officials, he visited several public schools last week to check the situation of students on the first week of return to full face-to-face classes.
“We don't have any major incidents, although, of course we still have schools affected due to Typhoon Paeng,” Poa said in a mix of English and Filipino.
As per DepED protocols, schools that are affected by recent calamities are allowed to implement blended learning.
Citing DepED data, Poa said that 2.36 percent of public schools conduct blended learning. “I would have to emphasize is a moving number and not definite figure because in some areas, the schools that were affected by the recent typhoon are being used as evacuation centers, they sustained infrastructure damages or the cleanups are ongoing,” he explained.
In these areas, Poa said that learners are expected to go back to school once the learning spaces are deemed safe for them to attend in-person classes.
As of Nov. 6, Poa said that at least 324 “Paeng”-damaged schools and 435 schools are being used as evacuation centers.
To ensure that students can go back to school, Poa said DepED is currently coordinating with the local government units (LGUs) to have these schools “decamped” as early as possible.
Poa added that funds have been downloaded to regional offices in the affected areas to help the schools in their cleanup activities as well as in the putting up of Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) for students.
Except for private schools and some public schools with “exceptional” circumstances, DepED directed all schools that offer basic education to return to full face-to-face person classes starting Nov. 2, 2022.
As of School Year (SY) 2021-2022, DepED data showed that there are 47,612 public schools nationwide.
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