DepEd, DOH mull over in-person classes in low-risk areas

By: Jodee A. Agoncillo, Julie M. Aurelio, Leila B. Salaverria - @inquirerdotnet

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:30 AM July 17, 2020

Education Secretary Leonor Briones joins the meeting with members

of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases
(IATF-EID) presided by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Malago
Clubhouse in Malacañang on June 15, 2020. ROBINSON NIÑAL
JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The Department of Education (DepEd) is considering allowing limited

in-person classes in parts of the country considered to be low risk for
coronavirus infection, according to Secretary Leonor Briones.

Briones said on Thursday that the DepEd has been receiving a growing
number of requests to hold in-person, or face-to-face, classes. That
option was discussed in a meeting with President Duterte the day
before.
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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had “strongly” backed Briones,

saying holding in-person classes could be applicable in areas that were
low risk and had no access to internet, radio or television that could be
used for distance learning.

The President directed the Inter-Agency Task Force for the

Management on Emerging Infectious Diseases to submit proposals for
in-person classes of up to 10 students.

“We think maybe we could allow limited face-to-face classes in low-

risk areas, but students won’t have to be there every day and there
must be conditions,” Briones said at the Laging Handa briefing.

These conditions are meant to ensure protection against COVID-19, she

said.

The schools must have enough facilities for physical distancing and
regular handwashing, adequate supply of medicines for students who
may exhibit COVID-19 symptoms and access to health facilities, she
said.

‘It won’t be automatic’

A school won’t be allowed to hold in-person classes even if it is in a
low-risk area if it could not follow the health standards, Briones said.

“It won’t be automatic. Just because we have loosened requirements, it

doesn’t mean that all [schools] with low-risk assessment can open,” she
said.

And even if students were allowed back in classrooms, Briones said

they only needed to go only once or twice a week and their schedules
would be adjusted according to their class size.

Physical education will be discouraged. Air conditioning units should

not be set lower than 26 degrees Celsius. Classrooms without air
conditioning and with proper ventilation are preferred, she added.

he noted that many Southeast Asia countries followed the practice of

holding limited and carefully regulated in-person classes to protect
schoolchildren.

“Limiting 10 students to a classroom is aligned with physical distancing

as part of the engineering controls. The one entrance, one exit is also
good,” Duque said.

“Air conditioning should be at 26 degrees Celsius because the virus

spreads easily when a room is closed and the air conditioning is on,”
the health secretary said during the Wednesday meeting with the
President.

Briones said the traditional classroom setting would help children

build their relationship with fellow students, their teachers and school
administrators. This will foster a good learning environment that will
help them grow up to be “good human beings and not necessarily good
robots all the time,” she said.
Classes are scheduled to resume on Aug. 24 with lessons to be held
largely remotely—online via the internet or with take-home printed
modules or on educational television and radio shows.

Many parents and students are concerned about how to continue their
studies given their lack of gadgets like smartphones or laptops and
limited access to the internet during the economic downturn caused by
the pandemic.

The pandemic caused a drop in the number of students this year and
this had been expected by the DepEd, according to Education
Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo.

This was because some parents lost their jobs or were concerned about
putting their children’s health at risk if they go back to school, he said.

When enrollment closed on Wednesday, the DepEd reported that 20.5

million students in kindergarten up to senior high school had been
registered, down from 27.2 million last year.

More than 306,000 students from private schools badly affected by the
pandemic had transferred to public schools this year, according to
Jesus Mateo, another education undersecretary. 
Mateo said a government voucher program provides financial
assistance to senior high school students studying in private schools.

Another called Education Service Contracting program allows the

DepEd to contract slots in private schools for high school students, he
said.

Albay went against trend

Albay province went against the trend of declining enrollment. Public
high schools in the province have not only met their target number of
enrollees but even exceeded last year’s figures on the last day of
enrollment on Wednesday.
Norma Samantela, Albay DepEd division superintendent, said the
increase in enrollment in public schools “is an indication that they
(parents and students) value education.”

DepEd Bicol said there were 1.52 million enrollees in the entire region
as of Wednesday morning.

Since in-person classes are not yet allowed in schools and learning
process must continue, blended learning will be used.

One distance learning initiative was started by Buenavista Elementary

School in Sorsogon City, Sorsogon province, so that students could
continue their studies with their parents’ help even during times of
emergencies, such as the present pandemic.

Rowan Celestra, the school principal, said their E-nay.com, or

Education for Nanay in the Community, would involve mostly mothers
whose capacity to teach their children the most essential learning
competencies (MELC) would be strengthened.

The mothers’ training includes understanding what teaching is, a

MELC walk-through, strategies for teaching and learning, a workshop
on instructional materials, and a dry run of homebased learning using
worksheets, Celestra said.

Some of them, now called mother volunteers, found the program

helpful and beneficial. 
Marilyn Jañolan, a mother of two, said the training motivated her to
study again even at home and it strengthened her confidence to
supervise her children’s studies.

Jañolan said she volunteered to teach other students in her community

as well.

There will be a mother volunteer leader per zone within a barangay in

the province. There will also be an E-nay center per zone where the
parents can get their learning modules. Fathers are also expected to
assist the mothers.
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