The Davao City government and the Department of Education (Dep-Ed) XI are consulting each other over the restart of face-to-face classes in select schools in areas with low COVID-19 risk in Davao City.
The planned restart of face-to-face classes for select schools was discussed during the Covid-19 Task Force meeting after Dep-Ed Davao regional office reached out to Mayor Inday Sara Duterte seeking a list of pilot schools for the face-to-face classes that have been suspended since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year for the safety and protection of the teachers and the school pupils.
“We were asked to submit a list of public schools where face-to-face classes will be rolled out and this was discussed in our Covid-19 Task Force meeting. The agreement is that the 182 barangays will be ranked according to risk assessment and the last three barangays (180, 181, 182) in terms of risk assessment will be selected for the pilot face to face,” Mayor Sara in her weekly radio program over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday.
She, however, added that not all schools in the areas that will be identified as low-risk barangays will be included.
“Our initial submission will be one school for each barangay,” the city mayor said, adding that no concrete agreement or consultation with colleges and universities on this exercise has been initiated.
“We do not have awareness if there are colleges or universities which are ready for face-to-face. We also do not have coordination with Commission on Higher Education (CHED), if they will allow beyond allied or medical courses,” the mayor said.
The mayor, however, said that if the CHED announced that they will allow medical and allied courses, then it is expected that schools offering these courses will open. CIO
