- Mitch M. Lipa
The Department of Education Negros Occidental Schools Division Office said only about 2 percent of the more than 12,000 teachers under the division have been fully vaccinated, as of July.
Schools Division Superintendent Marsette Sabbaluca said the number might have increased this August, but still considered minimal and far from even half of the population of teachers.
Most of the unvaccinated teachers are in the barangays of towns in the north and south of Negros Occidental.
In the Schools Division Main Office at Cottage Road in Bacolod City, Sabbaluca said more than 50 percent of the staff members have received the vaccines.
The Negros Occidental Division covers schools in the 19 towns and in the cities of Talisay and Victorias.
Although the next school year will still be under the distance learning approach, Sabbaluca said she hopes that with the ongoing vaccination rollouts of local government units, more teachers will be inoculated against COVID-19 before the start of the public school opening on September 13.
The 35 private schools under the Negros Occidental Division, which are all outside of Bacolod City, meanwhile, have started their School Year 2021-2022 this week.
Department of Education Negros Occidental Schools Governance Division head, Romeo Sison, said these schools were allowed by the DepEd Regional Office to start the school year ahead since they also opened earlier last year and finished the academic calendar before the public schools.
Most of these private schools are also affiliated with the Negros Occidental Private Schools Sports, Cultural and Educational Association, with most of the members based in Bacolod City. – MML
