The Department of Education (DepEd) announced Friday, August 14 that the opening of classes for the upcoming school year will be moved to October 5 from August 24, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision.
Briones said she sent a letter to the President last August 6 recommending the postponement of the school opening to October in consideration of the re-imposition of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal.
With last month’s enactment of Republic Act. No. 11480, the President now has the power to set a date beyond August for the school opening during a state of emergency or calamity.
“We shall use the deferment to provide relief to the logistical limitations faced by the areas placed under MECQ and to fill in the remaining gaps of the school opening that we are currently addressing,” Briones explained.
Briones reiterated that no face-to-face classes will be held once classes open in October. Educators have been instructed to implement a blended learning scheme in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
DepEd hopes that this will be the final adjustment of the opening of classes for school year 2020-2021.
More than 23.1 million learners nationwide have already enrolled as of August 12, according to DepEd.