CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu City division is urging the public and private schools to apply for a permit to hold physical graduations.
Doctor Liberato Lauranilla, one of the district supervisors handling mostly schools in the central part of the city, said they have sent out a communication to the principals of schools to apply for physical graduation.
He said that the schools need only comply with the requirements such as the support of the Parent-Teachers Associations (PTA), the permit from the barangay, the vaccination cards of the graduates, and the permits from the parents. These will be submitted to the Deped Cebu City to be reviewed by the regional office for the approval of the physical graduation.
“Ang mga ginikanan, gusto napud silang makakita sa ilang mga anak nga mopaso. Pero moobserve lang gihapon ta sa health protocols,” he said.
(Parents want to see their children march to the stage. But we have to observe health protocols.)
Larger schools, such as the Cebu City Central School, are encouraged to hold their graduations in bigger venues such as the Cebu Coliseum so that all graduates will be accommodated without compromising the health protocols.
The venues should be spacious with enough space for the parents and the students to fit in with proper physical distancing.
Grade 6 and Grade 12 students will be graduating this July 2022 while Grade 10 students will have moving up ceremonies.
At Cebu City Central School, one of the largest schools in the city, there will be at least 600 students graduating this July 2022 for elementary alone.
Maricon Gumba, the principal of City Central School, said one of the challenges is for the physical graduation is the low number of pupils vaccinated.
Only 10 percent of the graduating batch is vaccinated, which may affect the approval for the physical graduation. However, there is no guideline yet for vaccination requirement for graduation.
With this, the City Health Department (CHD) will be holding a vaccination drive at the City Central School on Friday, June 3, 2022, to encourage more parents to have their children vaccinated.
“Naghope ta nga maengganyo sila labi na tong parents nga ganahan nga mag face-to-face na ilang mga anak. Whole day atong vaccination ana,” said Gumba.
Lauranilla urged the schools to apply for physical graduation now so that they have plenty of time to get the application approved.
/bmjo
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