Duterte approves Sept. 13 as new school opening

 

(Photo was taken before pandemic.)

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has approved Sept. 13, 2021 as the opening date for the school year 2021-2022.

The Department of Education (DepEd) posted this announcement on its website on Friday, July 16, 2021, stating that Duterte has approved the date among the options recommended by DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones.

DepEd previously proposed the following dates: Aug. 23, 2021, Sept. 6, or Sept. 13.

“The school calendar for SY 2021-2022 will be released soon. We hope for our stakeholders’ continued cooperation and support as we prepare for another challenging yet worthwhile endeavor of educating our children amid a global health crisis,” DepEd said.

DepEd has not provided details on the mode of instruction, whether it will be hybrid learning where some students attend classes in-person while others join virtually from home, or fully in-person classes.

Face-to-face classes have been suspended since mid-March 2020.

For weeks now, the Department of Health (DOH) and its child health experts have been discussing with DepEd plans to pilot limited face-to-face classes.

Last month, Duterte decided to postpone the implementation of limited face-to-face classes in low-risk areas, and that enhanced blended learning will continue.

“Our utmost priority is the safety of our 27 million learners and more than 840,000 teachers and we will defer to the professional assessment of the Department of Health (DOH), the IATF, and the wisdom of the President in ensuring their protection,” said DepEd in a separate official statement posted on June 22, 2021.

Face-to-face classes are not allowed and only distance learning modalities should be carried out in private schools and non-DepEd public schools, according to the agency.

Private schools and non-DepEd public schools can also start their classes for the school year 2021-2022 ahead of the general school opening after the submission of documents to DepEd related to readiness assessment. (NRC)