The Department of Education is proposing to hold a dry run of limited face-to-face classes in 120 schools, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said.
Malaluan said once President Rodrigo Duterte allows a pilot test, the dry-run will cover 100 public schools and 20 private schools.
“The Department of Health is agreeable to the addition of 20 private schools,” Malaluan said.
He said the private schools will be identified after the joint DepEd-DOH guidelines are approved.
The dry run is part of the DepEd’s plan to gradually resume in-person classes despite the pandemic.
In June, Duterte rejected a proposal to allow limited face-to-face classes in 300 public schools nationwide.
“It is difficult. I cannot gamble on the health of the children,” the President said then.
Schools across the country have remained closed since March last year when the pandemic broke out, with learners at the basic education level remaining at their homes.
DepEd first proposed the pilot testing in low- or no-risk areas in December last year. Duterte initially approved it but in April withdrew his go-signal amid the surge in cases and the detection of more transmissible variants in the country.
The government has yet to include individuals aged 17 years and below in its vaccination rollout program.