Next academic year may start early — DepEd

A total of 6,925 schools nationwide have expressed willingness to participate in the ‘progressive expansion’ phase of face-to-face classes

If the Covid-19 situation in the country continues to improve, the government may consider an earlier opening for academic year (AY) 2022-2023, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said Sunday on radio.

However, it’s a matter which the next administration will have to decide on, according to DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan. “As you know, there will also be an impending transition already of leadership at the DepEd,” he said.

“We will be making our recommendations and the plans based on our decisions. But I suppose that the next administration might still make adjustments to that,” he said. “But it’s possible to start early if Covid developments would continue to be positive.”

AY 2022-2023 may start by May or June subject to possible adjustments by the incoming administration, he said, noting that AY 2021-2022 started late on 13 September 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. About 25 million students enrolled in the present school year.

As for in-person graduation ceremonies for AY 2021-2021, they may be allowed if eased Covid-19 restrictions would continue, Malaluan said. “That’s a possibility. This is not urgent as it is still in June,” he added.

A total of 6,925 schools nationwide have expressed willingness to participate in the “progressive expansion” phase of face-to-face classes, the DepEd official revealed. Of the number, 6,122 schools have already resumed limited in-person classes, an increase from the 4,295 schools reported by Education Secretary Leonor Briones this week.

DepEd has authorized all regional directors to begin the “progressive expansion” phase of face-to-face classes for both public and private schools, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval of the department’s recommendation to expand face-to-face classes in areas under Alert Level 2 and below.

Government started last November the pilot testing of in-school classes for both public and private schools, subject to strict health protocols. DepEd has not recorded any Covid-19 infections in schools conducting physical classes, Malaluan said.

“During our pilot phase, there were no confirmed incidents of those testing positive for Covid-19. Now in the expanded phase, there are still no reports on that so far,” he said.

“The pilot phase that we were able to conduct successfully has increased the level of confidence of the entire community,” Malaluan stressed.