PRESIDENT Duterte has approved the pilot testing of limited face-to-face classes in areas with low cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases upon the recommendation of the Department of Education, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.
Roque said the areas where the pilot testing will be held and schools that will participate will be determined by the Department of Health and DepEd, respectively.
He said the mental health of students as well as the economic aspect, apart from the overall COVID-19 and health situation in the country, were among the factors considered by the President in approving the recommendations of the DepEd.
Classes for school year 2021-2022 resumed last week, the second year of blended and distance learning using modules, television, radio, and the internet as mediums of instruction. At least 28.2 million students are enrolled in public and private schools this year, up from 26.2 million last year.
Before Duterte approved the limited face-to-face classes, the Philippines was among the last two countries — the other being Venezuela — that have yet to reopen schools since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in March 2020.
The pilot testing was supposed to start last January but the presence of the Delta variant and other variants prompted the President to reject the resumption of face-to-face classes.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones said 100 public schools and 20 private schools will participate in the pilot test that will be conducted every other week.
Briones said schools in areas with “minimal or non-existent” COVID-19 cases will be chosen and it is “unlikely” that schools in areas under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ (MECQ) will be included in the pilot test.
Part of the criteria for the selection process, according to the DepEd, is schools must pass a safety assessment using the school safety assessment tool provided by the Department and they must have the support of the local government unit in the form of a resolution or letter of support.
“In addition, participating schools must have the written support and consent of parents of students who shall participate in the pilot. No learner shall be forced to attend the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes,” the DepEd said.
Briones said teachers who will join the pilot testing will receive some “benefits,” such as P500 per day hazard allowance, and P22,000 to P45,000 isolation and in-patient package in case they contract COVID-19. She said teachers need not be fully vaccinated to join the pilot run.
The operational guidelines on the pilot run, which was prepared by the DepEd with the support of the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund, provide health and safety standards in terms of personal protective equipment, sanitation, detection and referral, ventilation, contact tracing and quarantine coordination and contingency measures in case a student or teacher tests positive for COVID-19.
Briones said initial plans were to limit face-to-face classes to about three hours from kindergarten to Grade three and to have 12 students per class for kindergarten, and up to 16 students for Grades 1 to 3. She said more students may be allowed as the grade level increases, such as up to 20 students for technical-vocational classes.
Briones said she cannot yet give an exact date as to when the pilot testing would start but expressed the hope they can start “in two months’ time” or once they have completed the proposed curriculum, the protocols, and other measures needed to implement the pilot testing.
Briones said for schools to be considered under the pilot run, they should have enough medicine and water supply and are close to a health facility.
Briones said the DepEd will conduct a safety assessment to ensure that schools are able to comply with the requirements.
“If the pilot test is safe, if it is effective then we will gradually increase but what is important is we monitor and make risk assessment. If there are changes in the risk assessment results then we will stop it,” she said.
Briones said public school teachers and school authorities are prepared for the implementation of face-to-face classes, adding the pilot test has long been discussed and they have long prepared for it. — With Ashzel Hachero
