An official of the Department of Education 11 (DepEd 11) confirmed that three private schools in Davao City opted to stop operations this school year (SY) due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the previous years.
“We have three schools, all of them are private schools in Davao City, elementary to junior high schools. Reason, grabe ang effect sa Covid pandemic sa ilaha, wala gyud sila kabakon,” said Jenielito “Dodong” Atillo, spokesperson of DepEd 11.
He added that although, the number is very minimal but is quite not okay because when the school closes it has a grave impact not only on the learners but also on the workforce and owners of the schools.
“We do hope that they reconsider their decisions and will go back to operations next SY,” he said.
He also said that other schools signify their intention to close but are not approved as they have to submit a board resolution yet.
“What we received is a letter only,” Atillo said.
There are 500 private schools in the entire region and apart from the three that opted to close, the remaining schools are operating.
Meanwhile, Atillo said their schools expressed interest to implement full-blown face-to-face classes ahead of the scheduled full-blast F2F on November 2, 2022.
“Yes, and they are allowed. We eradicated some requirements and give them the full authority to decide as long as they strictly follow the requirements enumerated in DepEd Order 34 Series of 2022. We want them to decide kung kaya ba nila and of course with the consent of the parents. They have to seek the consent of their parents and once they secured that then they can employ. Kasi transition period na ito very critical period ito for the full-blown implementation. Others also are more into blended muna because they are more secure but we urged them to better be serious on the November 2 schedule,” he said.
Through DepEd Order 34 s. 2022, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte mandated all public and private schools to adopt five-day in-person learning starting November 2, while distance and blended learning modalities may be implemented from August to October 31. This will serve as the transition period in preparation for full face-to-face classes.
