3 Naga schools ask DepEd’s nod to begin in-person classes

By Jason B. Neola

Three secondary schools in Naga City – two public and one privately-owned – are seeking approval from the central office of the Department of Education (DepEd) to operate face-to-face classes, the most traditional type of learning instruction, which was put on hold since the first quarter of 2020 due to the onslaught of Covid-19.

The schools are the Carolina National High School, Tinago National High School, and the secondary school of the Naga College Foundation, a private learning institution.

DepEd-Naga Schools Superintendent Mariano de Guzman on Monday, Feb. 28, said that he is expecting the request would be granted considering the decreasing number of Covid-19 cases in the city. Naga City and Catanduanes province in Bicol were among the areas in the country placed under Alert Level 1 status starting March 1.

“In fact, all schools in the city are now planning to send similar request as they all prepare for the conduct of in-person classes,” he said.

He said that the request of the three secondary schools to operate in-person classes was endorsed by his office to the DepEd regional and national offices several weeks before the city was placed under Alert Level 1.

“We are just waiting for the approval of the request. Any moment that the approval reaches my office, these three schools will be permitted to conduct face-to-face classes,” De Guzman said. He said the schools were expecting that the approval would come earlier than March 1, this year, the schools’ preferred day to start their in-person classes.

Among the basic requirements by DepEd for a school to be allowed to go on with face-to-face classes, include: the barangay where the school is located must be Covid-19 free for at least 28 days, the school must be accessible by transportation, and was given permission to conduct face-to-face classes by the local government unit that covers the area where the school is operating.

De Guzman said that the Naga City government favors the conduct of face-to-face classes on condition that the approach will provisionally be adopted to secondary schools with fully vaccinated teachers, personnel, and students. “Mayor Nelson Legacion, however, is expected to grant approval to conduct the same learning instruction for elementary schools soon,” he said.

The DepEd official, however, said that face-to-face classes for kinder to Grade 3 in Panicuason Elementary School has resumed after it was suspended on Jan. 9, 2022 when the city was placed under Alert Level 3.

Upon the resumption of its operations on Feb. 21, the school decided to complete the grade levels in its in-person classes by tapping the Grades 4, 5, and 6 pupils to join.