The Department of Education is firm on its stance to continue the implementation of the full face-to-face classes today amid its admittance that there is still a shortage of classrooms and teachers in the country.
In a radio interview, DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa stressed that while the agency is facing a daunting task of implementing full in-person classes, it is DepEd's responsibility to carry out the job at hand.
"We have to admit and we cannot deny that there is a shortage of classrooms and school buildings, we could not deny that. That is something that, of course, we couldn't solve overnight," Poa said.
"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," he added.
The DepEd spokesperson said that the agency will "try to work on it" in the coming months and years with the leadership of its secretary Vice President Sara Z. Duterte.
He also 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, we will push through. According to our Department Order 44, all public schools, starting 2 November will have five-day in-person classes," Poa said. "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."
To recall, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers 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.
The group also reiterated its call for adequate classrooms and armchairs, more support personnel, and a reduced workload and to cut the number of students per class to 35 students and for more learning and teaching resources such as laptops and internet allowance.
Poa, meantime, stressed that highly-congested schools like those in the National Capital Region 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.
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 2 November.
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 2 November while public schools 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.
