NextGen Day

The House of Representatives has encouraged the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to provide personal protective equipment, disinfectants, tablets or laptops, and broadband subscriptions to public school teachers and college faculty during the pandemic.

House Resolution 2471, which strives to enhance the safety of instructors and their pupils, as well as advance the capacities of teachers challenged by distance learning, was passed during the chamber’s plenary session on Wednesday night.

“Given the likelihood of continued transmission of Covid-19, teachers and non-teaching personnel should be adequately protected against the disease and should be provided with standard personal protective equipment based on the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Alert Level, such as face masks, face shields, and 70% ethyl alcohol,” according to the resolution.

It also emphasized the importance of providing tablets or laptops to instructors to help them move to blended learning.

“In terms of distance learning, many teachers are unable to buy new laptops and broadband connections due to financial constraints, along with the reality that many teachers have just one home computer that is shared with other family members for remote work or online classes,” the report stated.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones approved all regional directors to begin the progressive expansion phase of face-to-face classrooms in both public and private schools on Wednesday.

On January 18, Malacanang said that President Rodrigo Duterte had approved the DepEd’s suggestion to expand restricted face-to-face education in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2 by February.

Following the satisfactory outcome of the test conducted from Nov. 15 to Dec. 22, 2021, Briones advocated a “progressive expansion” of in-person seminars in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2.

Current main procedures and standards “must remain relevant as appropriate” till the publication of a revised joint memorandum for the expansion phase, according to the DepEd, with the following main parameters for inclusion:

*Schools must be located in locations with warning levels 1 and 2 based on the Department of Health’s periodic risk assessment. *Expansion schools have been validated as consistent with the School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) requirements.

Depending on the capability of the school, other grade levels may already be included.
Schools or divisions must have obtained the approval of the City or Municipal Chief Executive in the city or municipality where the expansion school is located, as well as sufficient cooperation with their respective barangay leaders.

Parents must give their written agreement for their children to attend face-to-face lessons.
Schools have more flexibility in terms of contact time for teaching and learning, as long as meals are not consumed in the classroom except during regulated recess.

In face-to-face sessions, only vaccinated teachers are permitted, and vaccinated students are preferred.

So far, the DepEd regional directors have presented a list of 6,686 schools across the country that have passed the SSAT, with 6,586 being public and 100 being private.

The schools are on a mid-year break, according to the DepEd, and the pilot of face-to-face sessions will begin on February 7, “although certain divisions may start later due to class suspensions during the Omicron surge and on account of Typhoon Odette in specific impacted districts.”

The National Capital Region and the provinces of Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Biliran, Southern Leyte, and Basilan were placed on Alert Level 2 by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases on February 1.

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