Each week, more and more schools get the approval to start limited face to face learning.
As of March 21, there are now 362 schools in the region which have started to receive students for face to face classes.
Department of Education (DepEd) XI spokesperson Jenelito Atillo announced in the One Davao Virtual Presser that the DepEd is giving the schools the volition to work on their own pace in the process of applying for the face to face classes.
” We don’t want to impose to the schools but we want them to really make sure that they are ready and compliant to the guidelines we’ve set before giving them the permit to hold face to face classes”, said Atillo.
There are 2,669 schools in the entire region which includes private schools. Of this number, only 362 schools were tagged ready for face to face.
In the DepEd’s assessment on these schools, Atillo shared that students and teachers are happy to finally physically report to class after almost three years of just staying at home while learning thru the various alternative learning modalities.
It was the desire of the teachers, he said, to be able to extend teaching directly and outright instead of facing all other barriers when they adopted the alternative teaching modalities.
“ For our students, they can finally interact and socialize with their classmates. We do no see hesitation from the side of the students. Rather, there are parents who are still hesitant to allow their kids to physically report to class. And we respect their decision by the issuance of a parent’s consent as a requirement for the face to face classes.”
The DepEd clarified that face to face classes will immediately be suspended once the community is declared under Alert Level 3. This means that all other alternative learning modalities will be activated.
Schools allowed to hold face to face classes are also following a progressive implementation of the said policy.
“ It means that expansion of the grade levels covered to offer face to face classes will depend on the assessment of the principal. The principal will ascertain the readiness and preparedness of the school.” (PIA XI/Frances Mae Macapagat)