SCHOOLS where limited face-to-face classes will be held should not be used as vaccination sites, the Department of Education said.

“Since last year until now that we are edging closer to the long-term solution to this crisis, we are ensuring the delivery of education to our learners. With the administration’s vaccination efforts in place, the Department will make sure that no learning continuity operations in schools will be interrupted by this,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

Briones earlier said that schools should only be used as vaccination sites when there are no other options left.

“School buildings should only be used as a last resort if there is no other place. Schools are reserved as evacuation sites during calamities and disasters. If it will be used as vaccination sites, then there would be no more place for emergency evacuations,” Briones said.

DepEd plans to hold the pilot testing of limited face-to-face classes in at least 500 schools nationwide.

The pilot testing was suspended because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive that there will be no physical classes until a Covid19 vaccine is available.

DEPED Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua said the department had actively recommended the resumption of face-to-face interaction among learners and teachers.

He said that the implementation of the pilot testing aimed to gather data on how face-to-face classes will be conducted.