DepEd, DOH to roll out pilot of in-person classes

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH) will soon roll out the pilot implementation of face-to-face learning in 100 public schools and 20 private schools under the pandemic new normal.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III signed yesterday in a virtual ceremony a joint memorandum circular laying down the operational guidelines for the conduct of the pilot study on face-to-face learning mode as the country finds its way to bring back classroom learning in the post-pandemic scenario.

“So, let the pilot study begin,” Briones said at a media briefing after the signing of the joint memorandum circular.

“After one and a half years of planning, monitoring, discussions, we are finally starting our pilot study of 100 public schools and 20 private schools as far as they pass the assessment test of standards of the DOH,” she added.

Briones said the pilot program would be a careful study on how face-to-face classes would be reintroduced.

She said like in other countries, face-to-face learning would not be the normal daily school week but would have limited hours in a school day.

“Classes will also be closely monitored,” she said.

“The face-to-face that we are dreaming about and longing for, and demanding publicly, because it is done everywhere except us, is different,” Briones said.

“At the end of the day, it will be as a country, with the DOH, DepEd, the executive, Congress, the parents, local governments, that will shape what face-to-face (classes) will be like, Philippine style,” Briones said.

Roger Masapol, DepEd Planning Service director, said under the plan, class sizes would have as few as 12 (pupils) for kindergarten to a maximum 20 students for higher grades and senior high school.

The classroom layout is required to have one to two meters distance between desks, Masapol said.

The duration of the pilot will be two months, after which the DepEd will conduct an evaluation.

“The class size, we are allowing 12 learners for kindergarten in a classroom. For Grades 1 to 3, maximum of 16. For senior high school, maximum of 20 in a classroom setting but maximum of 12 in a laboratory workshop or science laboratory,” Masapol said.

“Not a full resumption of full face-to-face. This is going to be blended,” he stressed. “There is a one-week straight face-to-face and one week straight distance (learning).”

“Class schedules shall be scheduled equitably so that all qualified learners, with parents consenting, will have the opportunity to attend face-to-face classes,” Masapol said.

“We also agreed with DOH that under the guidelines, only one teacher will handle one class for Kinder to Grade 3 so the child will only have one contact for the whole duration of the pilot study,” he said.

For senior high school, only subjects that require laboratories will be allowed to have face-to-face, and the rest of the subjects on distance modality, he added.

The DepEd and DOH also agreed that the school day would have a maximum of four and a half hours except for kindergarten, which will have a maximum of three hours.

Fully vaccinated teachers

Meanwhile, Duque said yesterday only teachers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would be allowed to participate in the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes.

“While vaccination is not mandatory, classroom learning will be limited to vaccinated teaching personnel,” he said during a joint press briefing of the two agencies.

But so as not to disenfranchise unvaccinated teachers, Duque underscored that “they may teach using distance or online modules.”

He added that online classes remain to be an option for parents “who are still hesitant to send their children to school.”

Testing

Asked about the need to do regular COVID-19 testing in schools having in-person classes, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government follows the “risk-based testing protocols.”

“We do not recommend the regular testing of students and even teachers and non-teaching personnel to be tested for them to be able to go to the schools,” Vergeire said.

She added they follow “symptomatic screening” wherein individuals are assessed if they are manifesting symptoms of COVID-19.

Yesterday, World Health Organization Philippine representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe lauded the Philippine government for approving the pilot of in-person classes.

He said that “prolonged school closures have a significant impact on the physical and mental health development of children, as well as their skill attainment and career prospects.”

“While online education can guarantee some continuity of academic learning, for some children, these services are no substitute for in-person attendance,” he pointed out. – Sheila Crisostomo

Related video: