Pilot run of limited face-to-face classes to start Nov. 15 —DepEd

Pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic will start on November 15, a Department of Education (DepEd) official told a Senate hearing on Wednesday.

“We start on November 15, the face-to-face classes and tinaon po natin doon sa pilot schools, tinaon po ‘yan natin sa umpisa ng academic quarter two ng ating school calendar,” Nepomuceno said during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.

Based on DepEd's timeline, the initial run will last until December 22, after which an assessment of the conduct of the in-person classes will be made. The pilot study will end on January 31, 2022.

The DepEd will then evaluate, identify more schools for the expansion of pilot run, hold site inspection, dry-run, and present their expansion proposal to President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2022.

Once approved, the Deped is planning to start the expanded pilot run of face-to-face classes on March 7, 2022.

Duterte in late September approved the conduct of limited face-to-face classes in areas with minimal risk of COVID-19 infection.

The limited face-to-face classes will initially cover 100 public schools and 20 private schools, and will involve Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

List of schools

In a statement, the DepEd announced the initial 59 public schools from the 638 nominated schools after passing the granular risk assessment of the Department of Health.

These schools were considered as minimal or low risk for COVID-19, based on the alert levels and risk categories by local government units, the DepEd said.

“The DOH will provide a rolling assessment every Monday to increase the number of participating schools to 120,” the DepEd said.

“DepEd Regional Directors may submit justification for inclusion of specific schools, for further evaluation by DOH,” it added.  —with Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA News