President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) to allow face-to-face classes in areas classified as low-risk for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Duterte gave the green light during a meeting with the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on the government’s pandemic response on Monday.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said physical classes would be held in areas “where there is low risk assessment and where there is compliance with the requirements of the Department of Education as well as compliance with the minimum health requirements of the Department of Health.”

“And if there is face-to-face, it will not be for the entire five days of [the] school week. It could only be one day or two days and the sessions could be limited to the most important things that a child should learn,” she added.

Briones said physical classes would be held only if schools would allow it, if school facilities were in a good state; if schools met minimum health standards; and if the host local governments were ready to support the schools financially.

She noted that a number of local governments had sent requests to allow; the limited face-to-face classes such as Siquijor, Dinagat Islands, Siargao and other areas with almost zero cases of Covid-19.

The Education chief said children were not as badly affected by the coronavirus as adults.
“Of the total confirmed cases, for example, out of 67,456 confirmed cases, only 2,832 most of them also mild or 4 percent, 4.20 percent are children,” Briones said.

The DepEd chief acknowledged that the pandemic affected families and enrollment turnout.
She said enrollment in private schools was only 27 percent compared with the figures last year.

”We now have what I described as the phenomenon of private school students migrating to the public school. The latest number is 347,860. And this is because, Mr. President, the private schools have been affected by the downturn in the economy. Their parents who lose their jobs cannot already fund the studies of the students,” Briones said.

Duterte admitted that the education sector was one of the sectors the government was most concerned about in light of the health crisis.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd earlier endorsed the holding of limited physical classes in areas under modified general community quarantine, citing the slow doubling rate, low number of fresh and active Covid-19 cases, and adequate health systems capacity in these places.

The DepEd earlier scheduled the opening of school year 2020-2021 on Aug. 24, 2020 and the end of the school year on April 30, 2021.

On Friday, Duterte signed Republic Act 11480, which allows the opening of classes beyond August.

Data from DepEd showed that 20,744,595 learners enrolled in private and public schools, lower than the 27.7 million in 2019.

Mixed reactions

Public and private schools groups expressed mixed reactions to the President’s decision.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines demanded that the government employ “comprehensive health measures” instead of risking young learners’ safety.

“We’re only about a month away from class opening, and we’re still yet to see substantial budget and sufficient measures to ensure the safe return to schools of education workers and learners,” ACT Philippines Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.

Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) expressed reservations on the proposal of the DepEd to allow limited face-to-face classes, saying it would hasten the spread of Covid-19.

Instead of conducting face-to-face classes, TDC said the government should develop further alternative learning modalities such as online, radio and TV broadcast.

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association (Cocopea) welcomed the holding of limited face-to-face learning.

“We are willing to collaborate with the DepEd and other government agencies to carefully plan the phased re-opening of schools to ensure all safety and health issues are addressed,” Cocopea Managing Director Joseph Noel Estrada told The Manila Times.