CLASSES for school year 2020-2021 will start on August 24, but students may not physically report back to school.
Teaching and non-teaching personnel, however, are required to report for work on June 1, either physically or via online platforms.
Enrollment will be held on June 1 to 30.
Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones announced the August 24, 2020 school opening date during a Laging Handa online briefing Tuesday, May 5.
“Hindi nangangahulugang pisikal na babalik sa paaralan ang mga mag-aaral. Maaaring virtual sa pamamagitan ng flexible learning options tulad ng internet, TV at radyo,” she said.
(This does not mean that students will have to physically go back to school. Classes may be held virtually through flexible learning options via the internet, TV and radio.)
Briones said students will spend much of their time at home. Curricular and co-curricular activities that entail mass gatherings would still be suspended.
The DepEd chief also said teachers and parents will undergo upskilling seminars to brief them on new learning delivery schemes.
“Mahalaga ang papel ng mga magulang at mga kasama sa bahay sa pag-aaral ng mga bata,” she said.
(Parents and other household members play important roles in a child’s education.)
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said the regional and division offices as well as the schools will determine the kind of learning modalities that will be adopted in a certain area.
For students without internet access, self-learning kits and printed materials were being prepared.
Classes have been suspended since March, when cases of coronavirus infection started rising in the country.
Graduation and recognition and moving up ceremonies were suspended.
Eleven areas in the country are still under an enhanced community quarantine. The rest have shifted to a general community quarantine (GCQ).
While schools are allowed to complete the school year 2019-2020 in GCQ areas, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has stressed the need to observe social distancing and prohibit mass gatherings. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)