PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced Tuesday, July 5, 2022, that the government is targeting to fully implement face-to-face classes nationwide in November this year.

In a Malacañang press briefing Tuesday afternoon, Marcos said Vice President Sara Duterte, who also heads the Department of Education (DepEd), has proposed the full implementation of the in-person learning during their first Cabinet meeting held Tuesday morning, July 5.

“We talked about Sara’s announcement that we have a plan for full face-to-face by November this year,” Marcos said.

He added that by September, the government will start the “phased schooling.”

“So by early November, 100 percent attendance na ang mga bata,” he added.

He said he told the DepEd and other agencies to implement the plans quickly, but he assured that the government has been carefully considering all its moves.

“I told them let's get this done quickly. We are careful but we are always in a hurry,” the President said.

The DepEd said in May 2022 that around 73.28 percent of the total number of public schools in the country has already been deemed qualified for the face-to-face classes.

As of May 26, DepEd said 34,238 schools have been nominated for the face-to-face classes. Of this number, more than 33,000 are public schools while 1,174 are private schools. (LMY)