VP and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte said that face-to-face classes is the “best option” for students in basic education.
SARA DUTERTE — The Vice President and the Secretary of Education said that face-to-face classes is the “best option” for students in basic education.
At the 48th Philippine Business Conference and Expo, Duterte mentioned DepEd Order (DO) No. 44, which granted private schools the option to continue implementing “blended learning modalities” — a combination of distance learning and face-to-face classes — for the rest of the school year.
Under the said order, private schools may continue holding either 5-day face-to-face classes, a full distance learning, or a blended learning modality starting November 2, 2022.
According to Duterte, the Department of Education (DepEd) is cognizant of the current situation of private educational institutions because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We allow them to recoup their investments in online learning technologies, the development and institutionalization of best practices in blended learning, and the unfortunate closure of small private schools,” she said.
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Duterte, however, reminded the learners, the parents, and the guardians “not to miss the abundance of materials… the five-day in-person classes or in-person learning is still the option for basic education.”
Public schools will proceed with the full implementation of face-to-face classes next month, except for the following:
- those whose classes are automatically canceled because of calamities and disasters
- those that are expressly provided an exemption by the Regional Director
- those implementing Alternative Delivery Modes.
According to a report, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Teachers) called on the Department of Education to reveal the number of public schools appealing to be exempted from the 5-day face-to-face classes starting November 2, 2022.
DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said in a message sent to GMA News Online that they “can’t go on record yet” as to how many public schools appealed to be exempted from the 5-day face-to-face classes because the DepEd Order 44 was only issued two days ago.
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If private schools had the option to hold blended classes, then the public schools should have the same option especially those from kinder to grade 4 who are more vulnerable to Covid 19.