The Department of Education yesterday assured that it will comply with the directive of President Duterte to postpone holding of face-to-face classes until a vaccine or cure for COVID-19 is found and that they continue to prepare for the formal school opening set in August.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, in a statement, thanked President Duterte for reiterating the national government’s “willingness to assist us in our endeavor to offer alternatives to face-to-face learning despite the public health situation.” She added that as the DepEd holds off face-to-face classes, the agency is preparing various alternative learning modalities to ensure that education will continue.
“We will comply with the President’s directive to postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine is available,” Briones said. “We assure our parents, learners, stakeholders, and the President that we are preparing ourselves for this mission,” she added.
While it is a “challenging task” for DepEd to prepare schools in a different setup, Briones also assured that the agency remains “committed to our duty to make education available and thriving, even in the most difficult time.”
From the Central Office down to the school level, Briones said that DepEd is “fully engaged in readying our operations” based on its Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). “We are updating our policies, realigning our finances, and collaborating with our partners so that our goals of providing quality education, and protecting the safety and health of our constituents will be achieved,” she explained.
Since June 1, Briones said that they have been conducting a remote enrollment nationwide in order to assess learners’ household information which will be “crucial in the preparation and the contextualization of the learning delivery mode in each locality.” (Ina Malipot)