MANILA – The opening of classes for the next school year will likely be moved to August due to quarantine restrictions brought by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Education said.
“We have been having nationwide consultations. The leaning is towards August for opening,” DepEd secretary Leonor Briones said Tuesday in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.
“Sangayon sa batas, we should open
classes first week of June, up to the last day of August. ‘Yun ang window namin. Ang mukhang trend na lumalabas is really for August,” she added.
Briones also said the DepEd will wait for the recommendations of the
government’s Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) regarding the imposed community
quarantine in several regions in the country before finalizing their timeline.
“Kung ano man ang rekomendasyon ng
IATF at desisyon ng Presidente… may influence ito kung kailan magbukas ang klase,”
Briones said.
Should the new schedule is finalized, Briones said, the DepEd is looking into
the possible implementation of Saturday “stay-at-home” classes for
the next school year can wrap up in line with the original schedule.
The DepEd has earlier postponed the graduation rites in the country indefinitely
due to government restrictions against the infectious disease. Majority of
DepEd’s scheduled programs were also put on hold due to the quarantine
protocols./PN
