ALL 28 schools in the National Capital Region tapped by the Department of Health to conduct face-to-face classes starting yesterday participated, with 2,300 students joining, according to the Department of Education.
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said personnel from the agency’s central and regional offices monitored the implementation of in-person classes for the first time in Metro Manila since March 2020 and “we have not received any adverse reports” so far.
“We have been monitoring all day,” Malaluan said, adding the return to classes of a limited number of students, which ends on December 22, was smooth and organized.
Malaluan added there are now 300 elementary and high schools, both public and private, conducting limited face-to-face classes nationwide, with nearly 7,000 students participating.
Last November 15, the DepEd started holding limited in-person classes nationwide, with 100 public schools and 18 private schools initially participating.
Malaluan said since the start of limited classes, no COVID cases involving students, teachers, and other school personnel have been recorded.
He said the technical working group of DepEd has been constantly communicating with the Department of Health and Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease regarding the Omicron variant of the deadly virus.
“DepEd will wait on the update of the DOH and AITF about the Omicron variant. Right now, we will stick to our guidelines. If there will be changes on the alert level of COVID-19 status, that’s the only time we will stop face-to-face classes,” Malaluan said, adding the DepEd will assess the situation when the participating schools and students take their Christmas vacation on December 22.
One of the schools that participated in the dry run in Metro Manila was the Pedro Cruz Elementary School in San Juan, with city officials led by Mayor Francis Zamora monitoring developments.
Zamora said precautionary measures were taken to assure the safety of the students, such as placing physical barriers on the seats of the students, thermal scanners, proper ventilation, and others.
“We want to ensure the safety of the students as well as the teachers and school staff by taking every precautionary measure during this test run of face-to-face classes,” Zamora said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian called for continued vigilance as more schools joined the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes.
Gatchalian, who chairs the committee on basic education, said expanding the pilot limited in-face classes is a welcome move but it should go hand-in-hand with the accelerated vaccination of teachers and eligible students, sustained implementation of minimum public health standards, and regular COVID-19 testing for teachers.
“The expansion of the dry run of limited face-to-face classes is good news but we must continue to be careful and government should continue with its vaccination program, especially now that the world is facing the threat of the Omicron variant. Let us take advantage of the situation to learn how we can ensure that everyone will be safe,” he said. — With Raymond Africa and Christian Oineza
