DepEd: Full face-to-face classes to start November 2 despite lack of classrooms, teachers

The five-day full face-to-face classes in public schools will push through on Wednesday, November 2, despite the Department of Education (DepEd) acknowledging Tuesday that there is still a shortage of classrooms and teachers.

Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa admitted to the perennial problems that several schools face a day before the implementation of full in-person classes.

“We have to admit po na talagang ‘pag sinabing kakulangan sa classrooms or kakulangan sa school buildings, we could not deny that, talaga pong meron tayong mga kakulangan. That is something that, of course, we couldn’t solve overnight,” he said.

(We have to admit and we cannot deny that there is a shortage of classrooms and school buildings.)

“Meron po talaga tayong kakulangan sa mga guro. Ang ginagawa natin, ‘pag nakikita natin na may mga schools na may konting sobra, of course, subject to the rules on transfer, kung pwede sila i-transfer, tina-transfer natin sila sa ibang schools na may kakulangan,” he added.

(We also have a shortage of teachers. What we do is we transfer teachers from other schools to those that are in need, subject to the rules on transfer.)

Poa said that DepEd, which is currently headed by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, will “try to work on it” in the coming months and years.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Monday said that DepEd and the Marcos administration did not do their assignments before the start of the full in-person classes, as some public schools are still unprepared after two years of online and blended learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ACT renewed teachers' call for adequate classrooms and armchairs, more support personnel, and a reduced workload. They also called for cutting the number of students per class to 35 students and for more learning and teaching resources such as laptops and internet allowance.

To work around some of these concerns, Poa said that highly-congested schools like those in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Calabarzon would still have to implement shifting of class schedules to cater to all their students.

He reiterated that DepEd was also looking to hire around 10,000 teachers for the next school year.

Taking all these into consideration, Poa said that the mandatory five-day face-to-face classes will still go on as planned on Wednesday, except for schools that appealed for an exemption for valid reasons.

“Yes po, tuloy po tayo bukas. Ayon sa ating Department Order 44, that all public schools, starting November 2 ay mag-in person five-day classes na po tayo,” he said.

(Yes, we will push through tomorrow. According to our Department Order 44, all public schools, starting November 2, will have five-day in-person classes.)

“Maliban sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo, meron naman po na nagre-request na ‘wag munang mag face-to-face. ‘Yang mga request na ‘yan ay binibigay sa regional directors dahil sila ang may authority to exempt, depending on the situation,” he added.

(Except for those affected by the typhoon, some are requesting not to push through with the face-to-face classes. Those requests are given to the regional directors because they have the authority to exempt, depending on the situation.)

ACT also previously called on DepEd to reveal the number of public schools appealing to be exempted from the five-day face-to-face classes starting November 2.

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

Poa said they are still consolidating data from their regional offices on how many schools requested an exemption.

DO 44 allowed private schools to continue holding either five-day face-to-face classes, a blended learning modality, or full distance learning starting November 2.

Public schools, meanwhile, must proceed with the full implementation of in-person classes, except for those that are expressly provided an exemption by the Regional Director, those whose classes are automatically canceled due to disasters and calamities, and those implementing Alternative Delivery Modes. — DVM, GMA News