The Department of Education (DepEd) announced Friday that more schools will be included in the pilot implementation of physical classes, following the approval of President Duterte.
The DepEd said that 484 out of 638 schools qualified as low-risk for COVID-19 under the assessment of the Department of Health (DOH).
“Given the continuous improvement of the COVID-19 situation in many localities around the country, DepEd, in close coordination with the Department of Health, has assessed that there are more schools qualified to be included in the pilot list,” the statement read.
DepEd previously announced that 100 public schools and 20 private schools are set to return to the classroom on Nov. 15 and 22, respectively. The pilot run will include students from Kindergarten, Grades 1 to 3, and Senior High School.
The department said that more local government units, including Metro Manila, have forwarded their requests to be included in areas selected for the pilot implementation.
“The expansion of the number of pilot schools will allow a greater degree of experience among all our regions that will serve us well for the expanded phase of face-to-face classes,” the DepEd said.
According to the guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease, areas under Alert Level 2 are allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes for basic education upon approval of the president.
READ: Here’s what you need to know about the OCTA-backed Alert Level 2 for NCR
Additional pilot schools will be announced once the school’s readiness and risk assessment have been validated by both the DOH and DepEd.
Meanwhile, the initially announced schools will proceed with physical classes starting Monday, Nov. 15. DZUP