CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) has yet to decide on the calls to cut short the school year amid the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) threat.
Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, Central Visayas director of DepEd, said the department’s National Management Committee will convene on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, to discuss the concerns faced by the education sector, including the health threat.
“All the recommendations from the different LGUs (local government units)of Central Visayas are consolidated and I will report it to the central office during our National ManCom meetng,” Jimenez said in a message reply to CDN Digital.
Jimenez, who attended the opening ceremony of the National Festival of Talents (NFOT) in Ilagan City, Isabel on Tuesday, March 10, said they will determine during the meeting further actions that the department will be taking.
“An issuance will be released the soonest once there is a unified agreement [or] decision,” Jimenez said.
The Cebu Provincial Board passed on Monday, March 9, a resolution asking the education officials to shorten the school year and adopt measures similar to homeschooling instead.
In the resolution authored by seventh district Board Member Christopher Baricuatro, the PB said the measure would minimize children’s risk of exposure.
Board Member Celestino Martinez III, in another resolution, said that instead of asking children to attend classes for the remainder of the school year, they should just be given homework, also to minimize their exposure to risks of the health threat.
School Year 2019 to 2020, in public schools, is set to end on the first week of April before the Holy Week. /bmjo