Schools must come up with their own plan to address the educational needs of the students amid the extended implementation of the enhanced community quarantine.
Mayor Sara Duterte said in an interview on Friday that a lot of suggestions are coming out regarding the new methods of instruction currently being prepared by the Department of Education (DepEd).
“DepEd is preparing an ‘online-offline’ platform for the opening of classes,” she said, noting that there are concerns that some might not be able to gain access to the online learning materials.
It can be recalled that on April 24, DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan revealed that the department is currently crafting the “Learning Continuity Plan,” which outlines the new delivery that would not require classroom instruction.
“When we say we are opening the school year, it is not necessarily a face-to-face mode in all areas of the country. It might be multi-modal because based on the projection that we see, the full containment of this COVID-19 will not be easy. It’s not necessarily that the students will be coming to school,” Malaluan said.
Duterte said schools usually take their cues from the DepEd.
“Please let us allow the school to devise a way on how are they resume their classes to their students because continuing their education does not necessarily mean online classes,” she said. “Right now, there has yet been an order for the beginning of classes.”
She also stressed there are other ways to continue the students’ education even without access to the Internet.
“There are other ways like what DepEd had previously said such as distanced learning modules, home-study modules and there are take-home modules that can be used for classes,” Duterte said.
The important thing is the DepEd and schools will ensure minimal disruption in the education of the students. The city government will heed the department’s recommendation, as well as the directive from the Commission on Higher Education for colleges and universities.
“That is what we will follow. We should not go against it because there should be no argument when it comes to education,” Duterte added.
President Duterte already signed the recommendation from the Interagency Task Force to reopen all schools, except online courses, in September this year. DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, meanwhile, said that they are considering an August opening.
