Shortage of School Equipment will Not Hinder DepEd to Resume Face-to-Face Classes
DepEd is continuing with its plan to push for in-person instruction to begin this week despite what it claims are significant obstacles that the industry is still facing.
Vice President Sara Duterte, who is also the Education Secretary, assured lawmakers that schools are prepared for Monday’s nationwide reopening at the first organizational meeting of the Senate basic Education Panel on Friday morning.
“We continue to study the implementation of blended learning as a permanent mode of instruction but come November 2, full implementation of face-to-face classes is expected for all public and private schools,” Duterte said.
“Regardless of alert level in any area, classes will continue,” Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing also said.
At the meeting on Friday, Densing acknowledged that the projected shortage of around 91,000 classrooms nationwide a figure that would be sufficient for about 10% of the country’s classroom need comes primarily from schools affected by disasters.
Based on the report of Philippine Star, Sen. Nancy Binay expressed concern about the mixing of students who have received vaccinations and those who have not after testing positive for COVID-19. According to Epimaco Densing DILG undersecretary that there is no provision in the DepEd regulations that separates students based on their vaccination status.
Densing also mentioned that the general rule is the face masks are already part of the students’ school uniforms before students go to class, and also he said that if their masks break or if they forget, there should already be reserves in the schools.
The report mentioned that Binay, however, took issue with the fact that there was no discussion with parents of students prior to the start of classes about what the new normal will be like inside classrooms.
The Colegio de San Lorenzo was the most recent private school to experience the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, according to lawmakers’ questions. On the day that was supposed to be the first day of classes, the school in Quezon City abruptly decided to close its doors forever.
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