OUTGOING Education Secretary Leonor Briones yesterday said she is confident all schools — public and private — will resume face-to-face classes in the incoming school year, tentatively set to start on August 22.
Briones said more than 34,000 public and private schools nationwide are ready for in-person learning.
“As of noon of May 26, 34,238 schools have been nominated for face-to-face classes. Out of these, more than 33,000 are public schools while 1,174 are private schools. These public schools represent 73.28 percent of the total number of public schools in the country,” Briones said during the Laging Handa online briefing.
“Next school year, we expect na fully 100 percent na ang face-to-face classes,” she added.
The current school year will end on June 24.
Schools are nominated to conduct in-person learning after DepEd division and regional offices determine that they have fully complied with the School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) developed in coordination with the Department of Health.
However, Briones added that while they have encouraged more schools to shift to face-to-face classes, especially private institutions, it will still depend on the COVID situation in their areas and the readiness of schools, especially in terms of facilities to ensure the safe return of students and teachers.
“It is dependent on the situation, state of health and assessment of the DOH. But the DOH is encouraging our schools to return to face-to-face classes,” she added.
She said they are strongly encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated against COVID-19 so they can be ready for the resumption of in-person learning next school year.
However, Briones said getting children inoculated against the coronavirus is not mandatory.
“We are doing everything to convince the parents to allow their children to get vaccinated.
We will not vaccinate without parental consent,” Briones said.
DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said even as they are encouraging schools to resume face-to-face classes, blended learning will still be implemented in some schools, depending on the situation and their capacity.
