Not one of the 16 schools in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental earlier nominated to take part in the pilot testing for limited face-to-face classes of the Department of Education was able to meet the requirements of the normal learning approach that will start on Nov. 15.
Romeo Sison of the Schools Governance Division of the Negros Occidental Schools Division said that one of the requirements was the endorsement of the local government unit where the school is located, to ensure the safety of students.
Also, most of the barangays where these schools are have recorded COVID cases, unlike when the list was made when some of these areas were still free of the coronavirus, he added.
“Now, the COVID cases in Negros Occidental have increased so much, and no LGU would like to risk the students for the pilot testing,” Sison said.
In the case of the Negros Occidental Schools Division Office (SDO), it earlier suggested the Purita Mora Elementary School in Barangay Zone 16, Talisay City, to be part of the pilot testing.
But Sison said the city government wrote the SDO, and said that considering the increase in COVID cases due to the Delta variant, it would be difficult to ensure the safety of the unvaccinated students if they will be allowed to go to school.
Bacolod Schools Division Superintendent Gladys Amylaine Sales, meanwhile, said they have nominated the Barangay Alangilan High School, but since the barangay recently logged COVID cases, she already expected that it will be disqualified.
Sison said that of the 29 schools in Western Visayas recommended for limited face-to-face classes, only three have been selected, including the Laserna Integrated School in Aklan, and the Igsoro Elementary School and Mayabay Elementary School, both in Antique.
All over the country, 59 schools, mostly in Cebu and Mindanao, have, so far, been approved for limited face-to-face learning, and the DepEd said it will work with LGUs, school officials, community stakeholders, and participating teachers and learners in ensuring the safe operations of the pilot implementation.
“Our responsibility for DepEd is to secure areas, the LGUs that have given their consent and are prepared to cooperate, the permission of parents, and also the readiness of our own facilities in DepEd for limited face-to-face learning. The Department of Health will also assess the health side readiness of the school,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
Participating learners must submit signed consent from their parents, and preferably near the school and without existing comorbidities. Teachers and school staff who will directly interact with learners in the pilot run must be fully vaccinated.
For the teaching and learning standards, blended learning will be applied alternately, one week face-to-face and another week distance learning. Class sizes must only be 12 learners for Kinder, 16 for Grades 1 to 3, 20 for Senior High School (SHS), and 12 SHS in TVL workshops/Science laboratories, with a maximum of 4.5 hours stay in school, except for Kindergarten, with a maximum of three hours.
Meanwhile, the Negros Occidental and Bacolod City SDOs will continue with the modular and online modalities of learning.
Sison said that for the Negros Occidental SDO, total enrolees for school year 2021-2022 reached 127,988 students in the elementary, 73,877 for public junior high, and 33,588 for public senior high.
There are also 11,171 junior high and 6,222 senior high students in private schools in the province. — MML
