Malacañang to take ‘appropriate action’ on school opening

Despite the set date for the start of the next school year, Malacañang said that it will not put students at risk and will take the "appropriate action" should the COVID-19 situation in the country not change by August.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) asked the Department of Education (DepEd) to reconsider the August 24 opening of classes due to risks still posed by the pandemic.

In his Thursday briefing, Roque said despite the scheduled date of the opening of public schools, it can still change depending on what will happen by August.

"Today is May but we're hoping that by August 24, which is the mandated day para magsimula ang mga public

schools, ay nasa GCQ na po ang buong Pilipinas. Kung hindi po (for public schools to open, the entire country is already under the general community quarantine. If not), we will take the appropriate action," he said.

“We will not put the students at risk. If we need to postpone the opening of classes because there is a high number of cases, or the second wave happens, then we will make that decision," he said in Pilipino.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has adopted the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) of the DepEd which entails the reopening of classes on August 24 and will end on April 31.

Under the adopted policy, the reopening of private schools can take place as early as next month but they can only conduct on-site learning starting August 24.

Schools will have to make use of alternative learning options once the new school year starts. However, extracurricular activities and events that draw large crowds will have to be suspended.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can open as early as August 2020 as long as they utilize flexible learning arrangements.

Roque had earlier announced that the opening of classes in college will be based on education delivery mode:

* HEIs using full online education

can open anytime;

* HEIs using flexible learning can

open anytime in August 2020; * HEIs using significant residential (face-to-face/in-person) mode can open not earlier than September 1, 2020 in areas under the general community quarantine (GCQ); and

* No residential (face-to-face/ in-person) classes until August 31, 2020.

According to Roque, private HEIs are encouraged to change their academic calendar and open in August 2020.

‘Brave new world’ Meanwhile, Education Secretary Leonor Briones enjoined stakeholders to have an “open mind” and help find ways to ensure that learning of children will continue.

“We are going into a ‘new normal’ because we are creating a brave new world,” said Briones in a recent online press conference. As the country grapples with COVID-19, DepEd has decided to delay the school opening for school year (SY) 2020-2021 from June to August to “ensure that our learners and teachers are given time and be properly equipped to adjust to this new learning environment.”

The opening of the upcoming school year, DepEd said, will be very challenging since the health situation forces schools to adapt alternative learning modalities. “Given the anticipated disruptions in face-to-face holding of classes and the need for social distancing, distance learning will be a major component of learning delivery for the incoming school year,” Briones said.

While the necessary adjustments in the BE-LCP are being finalized, Briones underscored the importance of teaching children how to accept and adjust to changes that are happening around them.

“We have to start with the children to give them courage, to give them initiative, to help them look at problems realistically, and to continually have hope and confidence that we will overcome this,” she explained.

With all the uncertainties brought about by the health situation, Briones said that it is understandable to be afraid and discouraged.

“Sometimes, we are afraid, we don’t know what to do and we sometimes feel that we cannot solve problems because of so many unknowns,” she said in Pilipino.

Unlike solving an equation with the use of formula, Briones said that there are some problems, such as the impact of COVID-19 on education that cannot be solved using a single solution. “If you big data then you find the answers but it's not like that because we are going to implement solutions in a framework of our existing administrative system, particularly in the DepEd,” she explained.

As it readies to implement in BELCP this coming school year, Briones admitted that the DepEd does not have a “one-size-fits-all” solution to the challenges ahead. “We are trying to solve problems in an environment of very sensitive political and social reactions to whatever government does or does not do,” she explained. “So, we really need to communicate the programs of DepEd because they can always be easily misunderstood,” she added.

Fears and anxieties Meanwhile, many stakeholders, parents, guardians, teachers, and learners, have been urging DepEd to consider postponing the opening of a new school year. Before coming up with the decision to formally start classes on Aug. 24, Briones said that DepEd has “repeatedly consulted and collaborated with its partner institutions and organizations” in crafting the LCP.

“I acknowledge the fears and apprehensions of our learners, parents and teachers, that attending schools in August might still not be safe in light of COVID-19,” Briones said. She noted, however, that the position of DepEd remains the same: “Education must continue,” even in emergencies.

Learning interventions DepEd is asking stakeholders to allow the agency to explain in detail its BE-LCP in the coming months.

“I seek the cooperation of all to have an open mind, and to allow us the opportunity over the next three months, to fully orient and inform everyone how this will be done,” said Briones as the Aug. 24 formal school opening receives negative reactions coming from stakeholders.

DepEd undersecretary Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, in a recent radio interview, also explained that the agency has crafted the BE-LCP as a major response and commitment to ensure the health, safety, and wellbeing of learners, teachers, and personnel in the time of COVID-19 while finding ways for education to continue amid the crisis for the upcoming school year (SY) 2020-2021.

Malaluan said that schools will conduct enrollment from June 1–30, 2020 for all learners intending to attend SY 2020-2021, including those who enrolled during the early registration period in February 2020.

“The enrolment process shall use online or other innovative ways to adhere to social distancing protocols,” DepEd assured.

Malaluan said that the “Brigada Eskwela” (BE) and “Oplan Balik Eskwela” (OBE), which are the annual activities of DepEd to prepare for the school opening, will be “reconfigured to fully assist the preparation of stakeholders in the roll-out of the BE-LCP.”

The BE and OBE, Malaluan said, will be undertaken from June 1, to August 29, 2020.