"Face-to-face classes have to be done under the most stringent standards."
The President and his Cabinet have given the go-ahead to the proposal for a limited dry run on January 11-23 of the Department of Education proposal for face-to-face classes, with only chosen schools in coronavirus low-risk areas allowed to participate. The list of participating schools will be known December 28.
Education authorities claim they have a list of schools that may be allowed to join the pilot rehearsal, but they stressed it is tentative as the schools have to pass the evaluation on their compliance with criteria and readiness.
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said the authorities will also coordinate with the National Task Force against COVID-19 to ensure the implementation of strict health and safety measures.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque himself said “We need to emphasize that face-to-face classes in schools where this may be allowed will not be compulsory, but rather voluntary on the part of the learner/parents,” adding “a parent’s permit needs to be submitted for the student to participate in face-to-face classes.”
Basic education classes—the whole range of educational activities taking place in various settings that aim to meet basic learning needs comprising primary education and lower secondary education—resumed in October under blended learning.
The blended learning involves a mix of internet-based sessions, radio and TV broadcasts, and printed self-learning modules, which earned from various sectors including those in social media complaints on, among others, grammar and other lapses taught through the modules.
President Duterte banned face-to-face classes in the whole country until a COVID-19 vaccine had become available. No vaccines are available here thus far although in other countries like the United States and United Kingdom, vaccination has begun.
Only last month, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said the department would only allow the conduct of face-to-face classes upon approval from President Duterte and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases although it was already then studying the possibility of conducting limited face-to-face classes for 2021.
Briones also emphasized the clearance would come from the Department of Health and the said national COVID-19 task force since these bureaus are responsible for the assessment of the health situation in areas around the Philippines.
At the same time, the Education chief also directed a study on reconceptualizing learning spaces post-COVID, which include not just classroom, but homes, community spaces, and virtual space.
It is good to imagine how some normalcy—the education of the young included—could be possible as we continue to live with the dreaded virus. Extreme care, however, remains paramount.