President “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said blended learning would continue in “very specific places” in the country even as the Department of Education (DepEd) required schools to implement full face-to-face (F2F) classes by Nov. 2.
Marcos Jr. instructed the DepEd to identify areas where blended learning would be more effective as challenges such as the availability of classrooms and teachers persist.
“Ang gawin na lang natin [ay] i-identify saan ‘yung areas na magbe-blended learning para maka-focus tayo. Ihanda ‘yung mga devices at mga kailangan nila na noong pandemic hindi nasu-supply-an sa mga bata,” Marcos Jr. said.
“We continue with blended learning pero in very specific places lamang. As much as possible, face-to-face na talaga,” he added.
Marcos Jr. said the government would be forced to push forward with blended learning if major concerns remained unaddressed.
Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio told the president that the DepEd would craft a plan on what to do beyond Oct. 31.
The DepEd gave schools until Oct. 31, 2022 to prepare for a transition to a schedule that contains five days of F2F classes.
Starting Nov. 2, 2022, all public and private schools shall have transitioned to having five days of in-person classes per week, the DepEd said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro