Department of Education (DepEd) Central Luzon is encouraging parents to enroll their children for the reopening of face-to-face classes for the school year 2022-2023.
DepEd Regional Director May Eclar highlighted that about 98 percent of the 3,687 public schools in the region are ready to welcome the students again for the conduct of five-day in-person classes starting August 22.
“We need to send our children to school. We have to bring back their enthusiasm to go to school, their interest in schooling, and most importantly, we have to bring back their confidence in reaching their dreams. This will only happen if they are in school, and under the direct supervision of teachers,” she pressed.
Some schools are to undergo transition period and will be allowed to conduct three days in-person classes with two days distance learning; or four days in-person classes with one day distance learning.
In addition, Eclar emphasized that all of the schools which will conduct physical classes have passed the school safety assessment tool, meaning they already have the necessary requirements to ensure that their students, teachers, and personnel are protected from COVID-19.
“We have already retrofitted our classrooms and facilities to follow the necessary health protocols. There are wash areass, alcohol, thermal scanner, signages, and isolation areas. Our Brigada Eskwela for this year is focused on the health and safety of everyone inside our schools,” she detailed.
The official added that some schools will be doing the shifting of classes to avoid congestion inside the classrooms, and for strict observance of physical distancing.
Eclar also shared that for the upcoming school year, they are preparing to conduct an assessment of the academic performance of all students from kinder to senior high school to diagnose if their competence are fit to their grade level.
“In this way, we will know what interventions to do to assist them. During the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes, we have seen that Grade 3 students are struggling to write; while Grade 6 students have poor literacy and numeracy,” she stated.
The official furthered that learning strategies using modules, and radio-based and television instructions will still be used in teaching the children, but schools will also innovate to supplement the learning loss due to the closing of the schools.
Meanwhile, Eclar underscored that teachers are also prepared as they have undergone capacity building activities and trainings to ensure that they give the lessons fit for their students under the new normal.
“Apart from the physical preparedness, we are also preparing psychologically. Our trainings include how they can handle the psycho-social support needed by the learners. The first lessons that we teach is how to handle the learners in the first weeks of classes,” she said.
According to records, about 2.4 million students are enrolled in the region as of August 12, a figure that is smaller than the 2.8 million learners recorded in pre-pandemic 2019. (MJSC/JLDC-PIA 3)