The Department of Education (DepEd) is now ready for the scheduled opening of classes on Monday, October 3, according to Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio, Saturday.
“Naniniwala kaming handa na kami,” San Antonio said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.
“Kasama sa pagiging handa ang paghahanda rin sa contingencies,” he added.
DepEd was supposed to open the school year 2020-2021 in July, but with the appeal of parents and teachers, President Rodrigo Duterte moved the opening of classes on October 5.
“Nationwide, 59% ng mga mag-aaral sa bansa ang gagamit ng printed module. Twenty percent ang online, habang 20% din ang offline digital. ‘Yung TV at radyo ay magiging supplemental para maging blended ang learning sa ibang lugar,” San Antonio said.
The DepEd official said more than 24 million students have so far enrolled in public schools for this school year.
Meanwhile, around 398,000 students from private schools transferred to public schools, San Antonio said.
Around 2 million students have not yet enrolled, DepEd said.
Also read: DepEd reports 99% enrollment in public schools
DepEd ready to open classes on October 5
According to San Antonio, public schools could still accept students even after classes have started on Monday, until the first periodical grading period, which is around the first week of November.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones also urged parents to avail of the late enrollment rather than to totally not attend school amid the pandemic.
“Learning must continue, and education cannot wait. Our children cannot wait. We cannot afford a delay of even 6 months to 1 year of their learning process because we all know that the damage would be incalculable,” said Briones.
Last month, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) did not welcome some parents and students’ academic freeze appeal.
CHED executive director Cinderella Jaro said in an interview on Unang Hirit that the academic freeze proposal was seemingly based on an assumption and “misconception” that classes for college this school year would be exclusively online.
Jaro said CHED is advocating for “flexible learning,” which is a combination of online, offline, and blended learning.
A higher educational institution could choose which among three learning modalities would be best for them and their students.