DepEd mulls having teachers physically report to school on some days, says only 7.2M students have enrolled so far

The Department of Education (DepEd) is considering having teachers physically report to school in the course of implementing remote learning for students.

Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV on Tuesday, DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan admitted that there will be circumstances that teachers will have to go out to distribute printed modules to learners.

“Tinitignan pa natin,” Malaluan said when asked whether teachers will have to go to their schools or work from their homes during classes.

“Siyempre, may pagkakataong kailangang lumabas ng mga guro. Halimbawa kung sila ay mag-a-assist sa paghatid ng mga learning resources sa mga estudyante,” he said.

In fact, some teachers have already gone back to their schools as part of skeletal forces, as authorized by their regional directors.

“Noong first week going on to second week… we allowed our teachers to work from home, except po ‘yung skeletal forces natin in their schools na kailangan na kailangan,” he said.

According to Malaluan, they have yet to finalize the schedule of the distribution of printed modules to students, whether every two weeks or quarterly. “Hindi pa ‘yun detalyado.”

Maluluan explained that the picture of August 24 resumption of class will be concrete once DepEd completes the modules and conducts some seminars to students and parents.

“Bago po ang August 24, magkakaroon tayo ng orientations sa mga magulang at mag-aaral kung may capacity sila na makipag-ugnayan online,” he said.

“Ang ating hinahandang mga modules ay may kasamang parang parents’ guide o gabay sa mga magulang kung paano mangyayari itong pag-aaral na ito,” he added.

The first two weeks of June are dedicated to online enrollment, while the succeeding weeks are for physical enrollment.

As of Tuesday, Maluluan said around 7.2 million students have already enrolled, a huge dip from 2019, when around 27.2 million students enrolled during the same period. -Joviland Rita/MDM, GMA News