It looks like the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking to start the 2021-22 school year this late August or September through a blended learning setup according to a report from GMA News Online. The DepEd issued this statement after President Duterte turned down the government agency’s proposal to conduct limited face-to-face classes in areas with low risk of COVID-19 transmission.
“We will release the final school calendar for School Year 2021-2022 once we get the final approval of the President. We are proposing that he choose among either August 23, 2021, September 6, 2021, or September 13, 2021,” DepEd said.
To put things into perspective, an enhanced blended learning scheme means students are engaged in online classes and/or learn lessons from printed modules given to them by their teachers.
Since the onset of the pandemic, most Filipino children have continued their studies in the comforts and safeties of their homes. Unfortunately, the sudden change in learning setup has been really tough on young students.
However, DepEd’s utmost priority is the safety of 27 million learners and more than 840,000 teachers. “We will defer to the professional assessment of the Department of Health (DOH), the IATF, and the wisdom of the President in ensuring their protection,” the agency added.
Be as it may, it looks like the agency is already preparing a possible return to face-to-face learning. At the same time, they remain flexible to whatever the mandate of the president will be. “While we remain optimistic to open schools when our situation improves, we are ready to fulfill our constitutional mandate in supporting our learners and teachers in any form of learning available,” the DepEd said.
By the looks of things in the country, it will take a while before face-to-face classes will be allowed. Let’s hope the COVID situation in the country improves sooner than later.
