MANILA – The opening of classes for school year 2020-2021 has been moved to October, Education secretary Leonor Briones announced Friday.
Ten days before the school opening on Aug. 24, Briones said the next school year will start on Oct. 5.
“As per the memorandum of the President, he has given approval to the recommendation of DepEd which I repeat, we submitted last Aug. 8. Thus, we will now implement such a decision to defer school opening,” Briones said in a surprise online press conference on Friday.
She cited logistical limitations brought by the imposition of modified enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and in the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna.
“The combined learner population in these areas is very significant,” Briones said.
Other areas in the country, meanwhile, are ordered to push through with their dry runs, delivery of learning resources and other preparations.
Private schools that have already started their blended learning, according to the Education chief, can continue with their classes since they have their own operations manual although they are still under the DepEd.
“Kung pipigilin namin sila eh nakaumpisa na, kuntodo involvement na ng mga parents tapos titigilan natin. That would not be useful at all,” Briones said.
Even with the adjustment on the opening of classes, according to Briones, blended learning would still be used as face-to-face classes will only be allowed by January 2021 at the earliest.
DepEd’s surprise move came after Vice President Leni Robredo, senators, a teachers’ group, and other stakeholders raised several concerns about the preparedness of the public education system to implement new distance learning protocols.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers, which has ardently pushed for the postponement of class resumptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, released an initial statement celebrating the schedule change announced by the government.
Under Republic Act (RA) 11480, President Rodrigo Duterte, upon recommendation of the Secretary of Education, has the power to set at any date the opening of classes in the entire Philippines or in selected affected areas in times of state of calamity or emergency.
RA 11480 amended RA 7797, which set the opening of classes as early as the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August.
The measure covers all basic education schools, including foreign or international schools in the Philippines. It also allows the conduct of Saturday classes for elementary and secondary levels.
To date, some 23 million learners have enrolled for the upcoming school year, 21 million of whom are in public schools or 95 percent of last year’s figure, according to DepEd data presented to the Senate.
The enrollment figure remained dismal in private schools with only 1.5 million enrolled learners, or 36.1 percent from last year’s 4.3 million./PN
