Classes at home may still be suspended due to bad weather, says DepEd exec

Even as teachers and students shift to distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said classes may still be suspended in case of power outages due to typhoons.

Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said classes may still be suspended if there are power outages for students who chose online classes as their learning modality.

“Ako personally, ang tingin ko dapat walang pasok sa araw ng bagyo o ‘yung nagre-restore pa [ng kuryente], pero hindi kasing haba ng dati,” he said in a virtual briefing.

“[Only] for those doing online, but for those doing the printed self-learning modules, talagang ‘yung araw lang ng bagyo siguro saka ‘yung araw na nag-aayos pa ‘yung mga bahay pero ‘pag ready na, hindi na extended ‘yung disruption sa pagpasok ng mga bata,” San Antonio added.

DepEd earlier moved the opening of classes for the upcoming school year from August 24 to October 5.

The department also rejected calls for an academic freeze amid the pandemic, citing the high number of enrollees for School Year 2020-2021.

DepEd said 22.31 million students have so far enrolled in public schools but only 2.08 million have enrolled in private schools. -Julia Mari Ornedo/NB, GMA News