TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has deferred the pilot face-to-face classes anew until after the vaccination roll out, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque confirmed on Monday, February 22.
“Wala pa rin po tayong face-to-face classes sa bansa. Tumawag po kagabi ang Presidente sa akin at ang sabi niya ayaw niya pong malagay sa panganib o alanganin ang buhay ng ating mga mag-aaral at mga guro habang wala pa pong nababakunahan sa bansa,” Roque said during a press briefing.
He also said that the decision of the president is without prejudice to any other proposal that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) may have, because the deferment of the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes pertains only to the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd), which only covers elementary and high school education.
“It is also without prejudice to the Secretary of Education submitting all relevant information that they gathered preparatory to their move to reopen discussion on the holding of pilot face-to-face classes. I understand that the Department of Education has conducted a survey involving at least a million respondents and the overwhelming sentiment is that the learners themselves want to resume with face-to-face classes. And I think this is without prejudice to the Secretary of Education presenting this study to the President,” Roque explained.
Meanwhile, since the government will start the vaccination this month, Roque said that it would be way ahead of the vaccination program in August which will give confidence to resume at least limited face-to-face. TNF