Group dares DepEd to give number of public schools asking for full face-to-face classes exemption

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to reveal the number of public schools appealing to be exempted from the five-day face-to-face classes starting November.

ACT issued the statement on Tuesday after the issuance of DepEd Order (DO) No. 44, stating that the full implementation of in-person classes will push through in public schools starting November 2, while private schools have the option to continue holding blended learning modality for the rest of the school year.

ACT argued that they received reports that there are schools, particularly in the National Capital Region and other urban areas, that wish to be exempted as “their facilities and human resources simply cannot make it happen.”

“Return to 100% face to face classes is urgent and necessary but it cannot be done simply with a written order. In fact, DO 44 is proof that the government cannot effectively do it as it gave leeway for exemptions from the earlier more stringent instruction banning blended learning by November 2, 2022,” the group said.

In a message to GMA News Online, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said that they “can’t go on record yet” as to how many public schools appealed to be exempted from the full face-to-face classes because the DO 44 was only issued two days ago.

He said that data will be provided once received from their regional offices.

Poa, however, pointed out that the DO provides exceptions to public schools that were expressly granted exemptions by the Regional Director concerned, and public schools with canceled classes because of disasters and calamities.

A Department memorandum will also be issued soon setting the guidelines on the granting of exemptions by the Regional Directors, he added.

For ACT’s part, they cited classroom shortage and the overload of teachers with teaching and non-teaching duties as reasons for their call for exemption.

“While we do not wish for the push for 100% face to face classes to fail, it seems that it is where we are heading given the government's failure to address our problems,” they said.

ACT has repeatedly urged DepEd to ease the workload of public school teachers and reduce their actual teaching time to four hours daily. They even described the public school educators’ non-stop teaching for six hours daily as “simply inhumane.”

Poa had said that the Education department is looking at “reducing or totally eliminating” the administrative and special tasks of teachers. He said they will also hire non-teaching personnel based on their assessment on the volume of administrative tasks of teachers. —KG, GMA News