DepEd Central Luzon Director May Eclar said that all of the schools which will conduct physical and in-person classes have passed the school safety assessment tool.
The schools also complied with requirements to ensure that their students, teachers, and personnel are protected from Covid-19.
“We have already retrofitted our classrooms and facilities to follow the necessary health protocols. There are wash areas, alcohol, thermal scanner, signages, and isolation areas. Our Brigada Eskwela for this year is focused on the health and safety of everyone inside our schools,” she said.
Eclar added that some schools will conduct shifting of classes to avoid congestion inside the classrooms.
Some will undergo a transition period and will be allowed to conduct three days in-person classes with two days distance learning or four days in-person classes with one day distance learning.
Eclar said for the upcoming school year, DepEd will conduct an assessment of the academic performance of all students from kindergarten to senior high school to determine if their competences are fit to their grade level.
“In this way, we will know what interventions to do to assist them. During the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes, we have seen that Grade 3 students are struggling to write; while Grade 6 students have poor literacy and numeracy,” Eclar said.
She disclosed that learning strategies using modules, and radio-based and television instructions will still be used in teaching the children but schools apply innovations to recover from the closing of the schools.
DepEd data showed that some 2.4 million students are enrolled in Central Luzon as of August 12, a figure that is smaller than the 2.8 million learners recorded in pre-pandemic 2019.