The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH) have signed on Monday (Sept. 27) a joint memorandum circular comprising the guidelines for the pilot run of face-to-face classes in pre-selected 120 public and private schools.
Both the Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III expressed their cooperation on the pilot implementation of face-to-face learning modality for basic education’s virtual ceremonial signing on Monday.
“I just want to emphasize na iyong F2F [face-to-face] na i-implement natin o ini-implement ng ibang bansa na model natin… ay ibang-iba doon sa F2F na nakasanayan natin. Ngayon, hindi five days a week; six hours a day lang at hindi naman araw-araw,” Briones explained.
Under the guidelines, nominated schools must submit a risk assessment to the DepEd, along with written consent letters from both parents and the local government units (LGUs) where the schools are located.
Select learners should also be residing near the chosen schools to avoid long vehicular transportation.
While the pilot run will be voluntary, all teachers and non-teaching personnel who will be participating in the face-to-face classes implementation are required to be fully vaccinated.
Moreover, the pilot run will be limited to learners from Kindergarten, Grades 1 to 3, and students from five pre-selected Senior High Schools.
According to Philippine Pediatric Society Dr. Joselyn Alonzo Eusebio, the age group of 5-8 was selected for the pilot run because it has been identified to be “least affected and the most in need of actual face-to-face learning, as far as basic reading and writing are concerned.”
The class size will also be limited to 12 learners per classroom for Kindergarten, 16 learners for Grades 1 to 3, 20 learners for Senior High School, and 12 learners for technical-vocational workshops and science laboratory activities.
The pilot run of face-to-face classes will last for two months. – Report from Kenneth Paciente / CF -rir
