Face-to-face classes still possible – DepEd

MANILA, Philippines — Face-to-face classes may be held in areas with no cases of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 if allowed by President Duterte and if their schools can observe health standards, the Department of Education (DepEd) said yesterday.

Late last month, Duterte said it would be useless to talk about resuming classes until a vaccine for COVID-19 is developed.

Malacañang later clarified that he was only referring to face-to-face classes and that blended learning would be adopted when the school year starts in August.

House basic education committee chair and Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo suggested the holding of face-to-face classes in areas with no confirmed COVID-19 infections.

Agencies, the lawmaker said, may conduct a systematic mapping to determine which places can hold physical classes.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones agreed with Romulo that some places have not been infected with the coronavirus such as Siquijor, Siargao and other remote islands.

“So, perhaps we need to seek the permission of the President because he already made a statement. Originally, we thought that face-to-face (classes) can be done in some areas but some conditions have to be met,” Briones said at a press briefing.

“If we hold face-to-face (classes), minimum health standards, (safe physical) distancing should be observed,” she added.?If Duterte agrees to hold physical classes in COVID-19-free areas, the DepEd would check whether schools in these provinces or islands are capable of implementing health measures. 

“We will look at the condition of classrooms. We will check the size of the classroom. Is one- to two-meter distance possible?

Is there space to ensure social distancing?” the education chief said.

Briones said the availability of personal protective equipment, medicines and washing facilities should also be considered.

“The bottomline is to safeguard the health and the safety of our teachers and our learners,” she added. 

Blended learning ?Briones also disputed claims that the DepEd is not prepared for blended learning, saying some schools have been adopting it even before the pandemic hit the country. “We are still in the month of June and our original proposal was to open on Aug. 24. We have been doing distance learning, blended learning for decades,” Briones said.

“Those who take up education and study education are already exposed to this. We are not inventing anything new,” she added.

She cited a survey on the readiness of teachers and pupils that revealed 87 percent of teachers have computers in their homes. For those who have none, DepEd is ready to provide the needed equipment.

Alain del Pascua, DepEd undersecretary for administration, also said that the agency has been getting a lot of inquiries from potential donors of ICT equipment.

Briones said local governments, civil society organizations and businesses have also offered to help the DepEd implement distance learning as she noted that the turnout of the still ongoing remote enrollment for public school learners has exceeded their expectations.

At a press briefing with presidential spokesman Harry Roque yesterday afternoon, she revealed that there have been some 6.4 million enrollees so far in just one week of the remote enrollment process launched last week.

She said the huge enrollment from NCR was a source of relief, considering the high number of COVID-19 positive cases and that more than 7 million subscribers have registered with the DepEd Commons.

“Our motto in DepEd is ‘Learning must continue. Education must continue.’ Children cannot wait, education cannot wait,” Briones added.

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