Schools prepare for pilot run of face-to-face classes on Monday

Several local schools are gearing up for the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes this week, after over a year of remote learning due to the restrictions implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19.

According to the Department of Education (DepEd), schools are already prepared for face-to-face classes on Monday, November 15, in select areas with low cases of COVID-19.

“Bawat classroom po inaayos nila, naglalagay po sila ng mga face mask, ng alcohol, tapos inaayos nila ‘yung social distancing sa classroom,” DepEd District Supervisor Rhea Gutierrez said in a report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

[Every classroom is being fixed. Students will be provided with face masks and alcohol, and social distancing will be implemented in classrooms.]

The DepEd earlier said select schools will be allowed to reimplement face-to-face classes starting November 15, in areas deemed to be safe for such protocol. It nominated a total of 638 schools to undertake such measures.

“Ito pong face-to-face implementation po ng Department of Education is a pilot, so ang Alert Level 2 areas talaga ay kasama na dapat sa areas na pwedeng magface-to-face pilot implementation,” Health Undersecretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said in the same report.

“Kaya isasama na po natin ang National Capital Region, but it doesn't mean na lahat agad ng eskwelahan ay makakasama,” she added.

[This face-to-face implementation of the Department of Education is a pilot, so areas under Alert Level 2 are included in those permitted to implement face-to-dace pilot implementation. That is why we will include the National Capital Region, but it doesn’t mean that all schools will automatically be included.]

Metro Manila will remain under Alert Level 2 until the end of the month, Malacañang announced over the weekend. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News