Briones: 90 public schools so far to continue with Nov. 15 face-to-face classes pilot run

A total of 90 public schools have been approved so far to continue with the pilot run of face-to-face classes in the country set to start on November 15, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Monday.

At the Palace briefing, Briones noted that the Department of Health’s opinion also considered in the selection of the schools.

“As of now, iyong objective natin na maka-reach ng 100 public schools ay 90 na ang ating na-identify [As of now, our objective is to reach 100 school and we have already identified 90],” she said.

The Department of Education listed the 90 schools in a Facebook post later on Monday.

Briones said around 1,900 schools had initially qualified for the pilot run, then the number was winnowed down to 600. The DOH then conducted a review of the COVID-19 risk of these schools, and at least 329 were cleared.

In these 90 schools, she said, 93.2% of their personnel are already fully vaccinated.

Earlier, the DepEd said some schools pulled out of the pilot run as their respective local government units and concerned parents refused to participate.

Aside from the dissent from concerned LGUs and parents, the DepEd said some of the schools have been pulled due to the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in their areas. — BM, GMA News