300 public schools ready for limited face-to-face classes dry run

Around 300 public schools are on standby for a dry run of limited face-to-face classes, pending President Duterte's approval this school year.

The number of participating schools may be adjusted based on the behavior of new COVID-19 variants and assessments from the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force.

Initially, 1,900 schools were approved by regional directors, but this was reduced to 600 following a Senate recommendation and further narrowed down to 300 to meet stringent requirements.

These requirements include readiness of facilities, approval from local government units, parental consent, and availability of transportation.

Previous plans for a pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in January 2021 were canceled due to the detection of more transmissible coronavirus variants.

If approved, the pilot implementation will only be conducted in areas classified as low-risk or under modified general community quarantine.