The Department of Education (DepEd) said that face-to-face classes will proceed despite the alert level being implemented in an area. 

“The general policy of DepEd on this is regardless of the alert level, we will move or go on with the face-to-face classes,” DepEd Usec. Epimaco Densing III said in a briefing Tuesday.

DepEd said in a recent department order that schools are required to fully conduct five days of face-to-face classes by November 2. 

Densing noted that the government is trying to do “education recovery” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is the right time for us to undertake the face-to-face (classes) and based on the department order, the policy is regardless of the alert level status of the local government unit, everybody has to go into face-to-face by November 2,” he noted.

Densing, however, said that they will still follow the decision of health officials if they find it essential to suspend face-to-face classes in certain locations due to increasing Covid-19 cases. 

There will be a “staggered and clustered attendance of students” for the transition. Students will be attending 2-3 hours face-to-face classes, then spend the rest of the day back home and study using soft learning modules. 

Densing said regional directors were already advised to make sure that social distancing will be followed inside classrooms. Additional budget will also be provided to schools for implementation. 

— Ronald Espartinez