PRESIDENT Duterte approved the conduct of limited and regulated face-to-face classes in schools located in low-risk modified general community quarantine areas provided they comply with certain health protocols and requirements approved by the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in a meeting with President Duterte on Monday night, presented the proposal of the Department of Education to hold limited face-to-face classes and reported that several local government units, along with some 71 private local and international schools, are inquiring and asking for the approval of this method of teaching.
The President, during the telecast of the meeting on Tuesday morning, told Briones “I’m with you on this” after hearing her presentation.
“Let’s try to make ourselves productive even (with) how constricted the times are,” Duterte added.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said this means the President approved the proposal.
Under the proposal, the limited face-to-face classes will start by January 2021 or the third quarter of the coming school year.
The face-to-face classes, which will be limited to about 15 to 20 students per class or depending on arrangements, will be held once or twice a week and would not be mandatory.
As of July 21, Tuesday, 21,724,454 have enrolled in public and private schools and state universities and colleges, 78.22 percent of the 27,770,263 who enrolled last year.
But Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Senate basic education committee chair, appealed anew to the DepEd to reconsider its plan to allow face-to-face learning in COVID-19 low-risk areas.
“I strongly urge the Department of Education to continue with the distance learning modality and suspend face-to-face classes this coming August 24. This is to protect our learners, parents, and teachers from the possibility of infection from COVID-19 virus,” Gatchalian said in a statement.
“Allowing face-to-face classes will once again enhance the movement of people that might result in infections within our schools. We have seen the spike of COVID-19 cases in provinces that never had cases from the beginning because LSIs (locally stranded individuals) who were allowed to go home,” he said.
Sen. Francis Tolentino said it will be best if the school opening will be deferred to another date rather than August 24 “to afford the government and schools more time to effectively implement safety measures to secure the health of the students and to craft possible online learning programs and other non face-to-face learning systems.”
Tolentino said this can be done since the President signed into law last Monday a measure allowing the opening of classes to a later date than August during times of calamities and emergencies. — With Raymond Africa and Noel Talacay
