Malacañang on Thursday raised the possibility that the pilot implementation of face-to-face (F2F) classes might be conducted in August this year.
This after National Task Force Against Covid-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the country is expecting to secure a steady supply of vaccines against the coronavirus in August.
“Perhaps, the pilot testing of face-to-face classes can be done by August or it can come earlier. Let’s see. It depends on our vaccination drive,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.
Roque expressed optimism that President Rodrigo Duterte will not oppose the possible resumption of F2F classes once many Filipinos already get vaccinated against Covid-19.
“Since DepEd or the Department of Education has long been recommending for the pilot reopening of schools, the President will have no objection once many have already received the vaccines,” he said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in its latest Asian Development Outlook report released on Wednesday, said school closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic left a huge impact on the potential learnings of students.
The ADB noted the closure of schools in the Philippines caused limited opportunities for students to learn better skills they could have gained through physical classes.
Last December, Duterte directed the DepEd to cancel the planned resumption of F2F classes in areas deemed low risk for Covid-19 in January this year because of the discovery of a new strain of the coronavirus in the country.
On March 4, Duterte said the government’s mass immunization program is moving at “full throttle” in time for the proposed F2F pilot implementation.
The DepEd extended the present school year to July 10, in a bid to address the learning gaps and give students more time to complete requirements.
The agency is planning to start the next school year on August 23.