Department of Education (DepEd) talks about school year 2020 opening amid health crisis in the country.
SCHOOL YEAR 2020 – The Department of Education (DepEd) speaks about considerations over opening of School Year (SY) 2020-2021 amid crisis.
Philippines is currently battling a major health crisis, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), brought about by a new strain of coronavirus which has affected the world already. As of May 1 update from the Department of Health (DOH), we now have a total of the following: 8,772 confirmed cases, 579 deaths, and 1,084 recoveries.
And now, a “new normal” has been imposed by the government where the public is encouraged to practice safety measures such as wearing mask, social distancing, no mass gathering, and disinfecting from time to time. And among the most affected with this crisis is the educational system. Classes fell short and got suspended since March.
With the next school year to start soon, usually in the month of June, the Department of Education (DepEd) had many considerations regarding the opening of classes for 2020. Initially, they’ve been eyeing to start the classes by August.
DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla said, “We often hear that formal education is the normal education [that] we are aware of and used to have but this new normal may now mean that that we need transition to the online platform [so] even the learning resources have to be adjusted.”
They have been developing Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) as educational response to the effects of COVID-19. However, there are a lot more factors to consider as they go ahead to fit in the rules under the “new normal”. Teachers will have to prepare to this but were only given the shortest time to.
Aside from that, the transition must as well come along with the budget allotted for this year for emerging needs in terms of transition. The budget that has been approved is the budget meant for the “formal school”. Sevilla explained as per MB report, “Responding to these emerging needs and concerns are not included in our budget and that is one that we are studying right now.”
DepEd has not yet come up with the official date of opening of classes. They still have to submit their proposal and recommendations to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) first and everything will be based on the health situation of the country.
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