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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 14) – When classes resume on August 24, in-person learning will continue to be prohibited in areas considered moderate to high risk of COVID-19 contamination, says a senior official with the Department of Education.
Online learning may remain an option only for those with Internet access, the official says.
“Online learning will be just one option. We understand that not all students have access to the Internet and can easily access these resources,” DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said Thursday during the Senate Committee virtual hearing on Basic Education, Arts and Culture led by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.
DepEd’s learning continuity plan in the midst of the pandemic has taken a multimodal approach that will be made “flexible” through the use of an online platform that will be easily accessible to students, San Antonio said.
This includes access to the DepEd Commons online learning platform that launched in mid-March. This platform contains learning resources available to approximately four million public school students.
However, DepEd says in its latest guidelines that the learning intervention for students may depend on their educational background and the ability of their home for distance learning.
“We are preparing learning resources so that before August 24 we can start the lessons even in distance mode,” San Antonio said Thursday.
“Flexible” learning can be imposed, which implies the use of another medium such as online, television, radio and printed materials to facilitate learning at home, previously explained the Secretary of Education, Leonor Briones.
Suspension of face-to-face classes will continue to be mandatory in areas classified as moderate and high risk, according to the Department of Health risk severity classification.
The Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations in the Philippines also said Thursday that according to its survey, more than two million students under the K-12 curriculum are considering dropping out of private schools for the upcoming school year due to the current crisis.
Of the four million students enrolled in private schools, half either transfer from private schools or drop out due to the economic impact of the pandemic, COCOPEA managing director Atty said. Joseph Estrada.
“It is an ongoing survey and we believe it will continue to increase in the coming days. But we anticipate that around 50 percent of them will not be able to enroll,” he said.
Schools and community learning centers under the supervision of regional offices and the school division are empowered to decide on specific modes of learning delivery that may be considered appropriate in their context, DepEd officials said.
They said the school year will officially begin on August 24 and end on April 30, 2021, spanning 203 days on the school calendar.
In addition to students’ guidance on alternative learning modes, the recently released calendar includes mental health and psychosocial support services for students days before opening.
Meanwhile, teachers can begin serving June 1 at the end of summer break on May 31.
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