DepEd memo seeks isolation centers return

Education-related infrastructure projects cannot take the backseat to Covid-19

The Department of Education (DepEd) has issued a memorandum on the use of schools as isolation areas, citing the need to make way for educational infrastructure projects amid the health crisis.

“The pandemic did not hamper our mission to provide conducive and motivating facilities. Our infrastructure projects remain a priority to help our stakeholders, especially teachers, to have a comfortable place to work in,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

DepEd has sent a memorandum to school heads directing them to politely decline requests for their schools to be used as isolation facilities.

However, if the recipient school is currently being used as an isolation area, two courses of action may be taken, according to the DepEd memo.

First, if the school is large enough to segregate the isolation area and the construction site, the school can still house the isolation facility provided that barriers are in place.

Second, if the school has a limited area to cater to both the isolation facility and the construction of school buildings, it must coordinate with the local government unit and request the immediate transfer of the isolation facility to a nearby school that is not undertaking infrastructure projects.

“The Department is one with the national effort to curb the surge of Covid-19 cases and hopefully putting an end to the pandemic. However, we must also ensure that the needs of learners are met including the establishment of adequate, safe, and conducive learning facilities, as mandated” Undersecretary for Administration and DepEd Task Force Covid-19 chair Alain del Pascua said.

DepEd is expecting infrastructure projects to start in the third quarter of 2021, which will require the use of the school premises for the construction or repair of school buildings. Thus, schools may cite this reason for declining requests.