ONLY eight schools from two provinces in Davao Region made the cut to be part of the 100 schools that will be participating in the launch of the pilot run of limited face-to-face (F2F) classes in the Philippines on November 15, 2021.
In a press release, the Department of Education (DepEd) has already completed the list of 100 public schools that will participate in the pilot F2F classes in the country.
DepEd also published the names of the elementary and secondary public schools, including those from Davao del Sur and Davao de Oro, which were identified as “low risk” of the Covid-19 transmissions in their respective communities.
In Davao del Sur, these are Clib Public School in Hagonoy and the Nodilla Elementary School and Tacub Elementary School in Kiblawan.
Schools in Davao de Oro that qualified for the limited F2F include Bares Elementary School (Pagsabangan Extension) in New Bataan, Parasan Integrated School in Pantukan, and Lower Panansalan Elementary School (Jacinto Extension), Maugat Elementary School, and Digaynon Integrated School in Compostela.
DepEd-Davao Region Spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said in a recent interview that the eight identified schools were already informed and they are currently preparing for the pilot implementation.
He said the eight schools were earlier part of the 18 recommended schools in the region for the planned F2F classes, which were assessed by the Department of Health (DOH).
No schools in Davao City were included in the roster as the city, the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic in the region, has been classified as a “high risk” area.
Davao City earlier submitted a list of schools that are recommended for the possible F2F in the city. These were Dalagdag National High School with Senior High in Barangay Dalagdag, G. Tajo National High School with Senior High in Barangay Lampianao, Saloy National High School with Senior High in Barangay Saloy, Mabuhay Elementary School now Victor Bernal Integrated School with Kindergarten in Barangay Mabuhay, and Gumitan Elementary School with Kindergarten in Barangay Gumitan.
Briones, meanwhile, said they are still identifying 20 private schools that will join the pilot run of in-person classes.
The DepEd secretary said F2F will begin on November 15 for public schools and November 22 for private schools.
She said they have already secured the approval of respective local government units, as well as the consent of the parents whose children will be part of the pilot run.
Briones also assured the safety of both the teaching staff and students amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said 90 percent of the school staff involved in the pilot run have already received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
The DepEd earlier said that as a preventive measure, teachers joining the face-to-face classes should be fully vaccinated.
DepEd Director Malcolm Garma said 317 out of the 444 school personnel in the participating schools were fully vaccinated.
The pilot run will be assessed by the end of December and will end on January 31, 2022.
By February 2022, the DepEd, after the evaluation and assessment of the initial pilot run, will present to President Rodrigo Duterte the expansion of in-person classes, which will start on March 7, 2022. (RGL with reports from SunStar Philippines)
