THE Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to decide whether classes for K-12 students nationwide may resume in August or be suspended until December 2020.
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan on Wednesday, April 22, said the department is closely looking at facts and evidence, in consultation with its partners and stakeholders, in deciding when to open the school year 2020-2021.
The department has reiterated that the safety, health, and well-being of learners, teachers, and parents are primary consideration in its Learning Continuity Plan to adapt to the "new normal" of education amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
The agency said Wednesday it received 833,460 responses to its national survey on the opening of classes for the upcoming school year.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, in a Laging Handa press briefing, said most of the responses favored a school opening in August.
“Sa ating consultations, karamihan ay nagsasabi, para may panahon tayo sa pagbabago ng edukasyon, pagbabago sa pamamaraan ng pagtuturo at saka para masigurado na malinis at safe ang ating kabataan, ay karamihan ay August,” Briones said.
But she also said the inputs of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases and President Rodrigo Duterte, will play a big role in the agency’s decision making.
“Kung ano man ang rekomendasyon ng IATF, and decision of the President, may influence ito kung kailan magbubukas ang klase,” she said.
She also said they were looking at online classes as the “new normal” instead of physical interaction in the classroom.
UP Resilience Institute (UPRI) Director Alfredo Mahar Francisco Lagmay earlier recommended the suspension of classes until December 2020.
“Kapag walang klase hanggang December, there will be a great slowdown in the transmission of the Covid-19. Ito po ay isa sa mga rekomendasyon na binibigay,” he said .
Malaluan, for his part, asked UP experts to engage with the DepEd before preempting the decision.
“We hope the UP experts will engage with DepEd on this; this is under deliberation and consultation with in DepEd and with partners,” Malaluan said in a Twitter post Wednesday.
“We are looking closely at facts and evidence, including theirs. We hope the UP experts would not preempt this decision without even checking with the Department,” he added.
Classes for school year 2019-2020 were cut short after novel coronavirus infections soared in the country, especially in the National Capital Region.
President Duterte ordered the suspension of classes in Metro Manila on March 9, 2020. The class suspension was later replicated nationwide as cases of Covid-19 continued to increase. (JTM/SunStar Philippines)