FOLLOWING the approval of President Duterte on the limited face – to- face classes in areas deemed low risk of COVID- 19, the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH) on Monday signed a joint memorandum circular providing the guidelines for the pilot implementation of the program.

On September 20, President Duterte has approved limited face-to-face classes in a maximum of 120 public and private schools

This covers a “maximum of 100 public schools in areas categorized as minimal risk” and that have “passed the readiness assessment,” and an additional 20 private schools jointly validated by the DepEd and the DOH.

The ceremonial signing event of circular was held between Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Health Secretary Francisco Duque 111.

“It is now fairly safe for us to start the pilot study,” Briones said in a speech during the signing ceremony.

The DepEd did not give an exact date where the pilot test would start.

The DepEd conducted one and a half years of planning, monitoring, and discussing the implementation of face- to- face classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Briones said 100 public and 20 private — are set to take part in the pilot run. She added that the government needs to secure the support of local government units where the classes will be held, as well as the written consent of the parents, before in-person classes can be conducted.

At least 95 public elementary schools, five public senior high schools, and 20 schools are set to participate in the pilot run.

Students from elementary schools participating in the pilot program should only be from kinder to Grade 3.

Children with no comorbidities, reside in the city where the school is located, and able to walk to school from home are preferred.

School personnel should be 65 years old and below, also with no comorbidities.

Classes for Kinder should only have 12 students maximum, and classes for Grade 1 to 3 should only have a maximum of 16 learners, Masapol said.

Senior high school classes should only have 20 learners while senior high classes in laboratories, workshops, or technical vocational education should only have 12 learners maximum.

Only one teacher will be deployed per class for Kinder to Grade 3 to minimize exposure during the pilot run of face-to-face classes, Masapol said.

The pilot program is set to run for two months.