The Philippines begins today (Monday) a pilot run of limited in-person classes in select public schools, the first time that basic education institutions will hold classroom sessions after nearly two years of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Implementation of the trial or exploratory run will take place in 100 schools selected by the Department of Education and the Department of Health, mostly from far-flung areas in the provinces deemed “low risk” to COVID-19.
DepEd Planning Service Director Roger Masapol said the resumption of in-person classes did not signal a return to how schooling was conducted prior to the health crisis.
The in-person or face-to-face classes will only complement distance learning modalities, with classroom sessions set to be held every other week.
So far, only students from Kindergarten to Grade 3 and senior high school will attend physical classes, which will also see reduced class sizes. Schools have also retrofitted their facilities to implement health protocols and avoid the possible spread of COVID-19.
In Tamulaya Elementary School in Quezon province’s Polillo Island, school officials enforced distancing between students' chairs and installed plastic barriers around each of them.
Schools in Zambales, meanwhile, installed triages, and handwashing and isolation facilities.
Some of the participating schools also conducted simulation of physical classes and oriented students to ensure that they follow health protocols.
Meanwhile, a DepEd official said there was a strong possibility that limited face-to-face classes would be conducted in Metro Manila as the COVID-19 situation in the region is seen as improving.
DepEd Director Roger Masapol said in an interview on Dobol B TV:
“There’s a big chance that pilot testing of limited face-to-face classes will be conducted in NCR.”
The DepEd executive said the agency had written a letter to President Rodrigo Duterte asking him to allow more schools to participate in the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes, which will start next week.
