120 schools chosen for pilot face-to-face classes

MANILA, Philippines — The Departments of Education (DepEd) and of Health (DOH) have agreed to pilot face-to-face classes in 120 basic education schools in the coming school year, subject to the approval of President Duterte.?

DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan yesterday said that this number is higher than the 100 schools recommended by the department during a Senate hearing.

Malaluan said Education Secretary Leonor Briones requested additional allocation for 20 private schools that was approved by the DOH.

“No identified private schools yet; we will disclose the process upon approval of the Joint DepEd-DOH guidelines,” he said.

The DepEd has yet to present this recommendation to the President or the Cabinet for a final decision.

Face-to-face classes for basic education have been suspended since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year.

Briones said that School Year 2021-2022, which starts on Sept. 13, will still primarily utilize blended learning.?She said they are looking at increasing the utilization of television and radio-based learning materials for basic education to supplement the implementation of blended learning.

“We cannot deny the important role played by TV and radio in the country in the delivery of education, because not all have access to the internet,” Briones said in Filipino.

She noted that TV episodes and radio-based lessons allow for flexibility in the modality of learning even if self-learning modules are made available by schools.

Malaluan said the department wants to effectively integrate these multimedia learning materials in the instructional plans for the new school year.

The TV and radio episodes are digitally available in a database indexed by Grade Level, Quarter, Episode Title, Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs), Mapping and CG Code that can be used and adjusted by regions and teachers to be integrated into instructional programming.

DepEd TV is airing over different TV stations, including IBC 13, GMA7, CignalTV, GSat, Grace TV, Solar, Planet Cable, Pacific Kabelnet, Mabuhay Pilipinas TV and PCTA members, and simultaneously played in radio counterparts.

For the last school year, DepEd TV produced over 1,400 video lessons aligned with the MELCs.