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The Ministry of Education appreciates the approval of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and the Cabinet of the implementation of pilot classes in person in very select schools within areas with low risk of COVID-19 for the entire month of January 2021.
The pilot implementation will only take place in areas under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) or categorized as low risk areas, following strict health and safety standards.
There must also be a commitment to shared responsibility from DepEd, the local government unit (LGU) and parents / guardians.
The Department would also like to emphasize that students will not be forced to participate and can continue their distance learning setup. Selected schools will require parental consent to allow their children to join limited face-to-face classes.
For schools, there must be a well-documented report of readiness, including hazard classification, shared responsibility acknowledgment documentation, student and classroom management plan, and home health standards requirements, during the trip and on the school premises.
The Regional Directors have already submitted to the Secretary the nominated schools that meet the specific conditions established by the Department. The limited number of public schools that will participate in the pilot implementation will be determined within a month after evaluating their compliance and readiness.
Once selected, participating schools, LGUs, students and parents will undergo a comprehensive process of orientation, mobilization and confirmation of readiness prior to actual implementation.
Driving and monitoring will be closely coordinated by the Department with the National COVID-19 Task Force (NTF). External organizations are also invited to support, give feedback and help generate resources to ensure the success of the program.
Recognizing that face-to-face classes remain a necessity for education, this pilot deployment in low-risk areas can help policymakers and the Department to generate more comprehensive recommendations and initiatives to advance continuity of learning.
