Marcos to teachers, students: Continue observing health protocols

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday reminded teachers and students to continue observing minimum health standards amid the opening of classes for School Year 2022-2023 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Marcos welcomed "the return of our children to full face-to-face classes after two years of online learning due to the pandemic."

"It has always been my belief that learning will be more effective inside classrooms where students fully interact with their teachers and fellow students," Marcos said.

"Since the threat of COVID-19 is still in our midst, it is important that our teachers and students continue to observe the minimum health protocols to ensure that they remain healthy while learning new things."

Marcos said he has no doubt that with Vice President Sara Duterte's leadership at the Department of Education, it is guaranteed that the more than 28.21 million students enrolled in the K-12 system will finally get the quality education that our parents want for their children.

So far, there are no major challenges encountered in schools during the start of the first day of in-person classes, DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa has said.

The school year provides for the implementation of combined in-person classes and distance learning from August to October, while the five-day face-to-face classes in public and private schools will resume on November 2.

Based on data from DepEd, 27.6 million students, both from private and public schools, have enrolled for this academic year — a slight shortfall from the agency's 28.6 million target. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News