ILOILO CITY – The opening of school year 2022-2023 in Western Visayas Monday, Aug. 22, was orderly, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
“Based on the assessment of our coordinators, there were no major issues,” said DepEd-6 Information Officer Hernani Escular Jr.
DepEd had to wait Monday afternoon, Aug. 22, to release the assessment of coordinators from Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental as well as the highly urbanized cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Speaking on behalf of DepEd-6 Regional Director Ramir Uytico, Escular said that only minor problems were recorded during the first day of classes.
“But it’s not the students. It was the parents who were waiting outside. Some were not wearing face masks or were not following social distancing protocols,” Escular said.
These minor problems were addressed as DepEd has partnerships with the Police Regional Office-6 and local government units (LGUs) in implementing health protocols. There were 1,367 policemen deployed and 6,170 force multipliers such as barangay tanods tapped for the school opening in the region.
Strict physical distancing was implemented as well as other health protocols inside school premises.
Based on DepEd records, more than 2.14 million students were enrolled all over Western Visayas, an increase of 102.11 percent than the previous school year.