DepEd eyes 305 schools for F2F, in-house classes

By Mar S. Arguelles

The Department of Education (DepEd) in Bicol said it has eyed 305 public schools in Bicol as pilot areas for the in-house or face-to-face classes once President Rodrigo Duterte gives the green light to implement this though on a limited scale in communities considered as low-risk areas for Covid-19.

Gilbert Sadsad, DepEd regional director, in a virtual media forum said they are just waiting for the final approval of Pres. Duterte to allow limited face-to-face classes in identified rural communities with low Covid-19 cases.

Sadsad said they have already conducted surveys since January mapping out schools that would qualify as pilot areas where face-to-face classes would be implemented.

He, however, could not yet release the list of schools targeted as pilot areas based on the department’s guidelines.

He said that the guidelines require a minimum of 12 to a maximum of 20 learners would be accommodated in a classroom with a plastic partition or health barriers.

Further, the learners should be living near the selected pilot schools so the children do not need to travel and since daily classes would be on a half-day session, they would not be allowed to take their lunch in the school, thus preventing them from socializing during the break.

Likewise, the schools should have one entrance and one exit passages only where alcohol sanitizers should be available.

Finally, the guidelines provide that teachers and learners would see to it that the Minimum Health Protocols (MHP) would be strictly followed such as wearing face mask, physical distancing, and avoid mass gatherings.