THE DEPARTMENT of Education has allowed private schools to continue implementing blended or full distance learning after November 2.

However, all public schools will have to implement five days of in-person classes a week starting November 2, 2022.

The exceptions are public schools granted exemptions by the regional director concerned, and public schools with canceled classes because of disasters and calamities.

On October 17, 2022, DepEd issued an amendatory Department Order to DO 34, s. 2022 allowing private schools to offer blended learning modality and full distance learning options to their students.

Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio said DepEd believes that holding in-person classes is the best way to promote academic development and the overall mental health and well-being of learners.

The DepEd pointed out that several studies point to the undisputable fact that in-person classes remain the best option for basic education.

“DepEd is cognizant of the current situation of the private sector due to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic — the amount of investment in online learning technologies, the development and institutionalization of best practices on blended learning, and the unfortunate closure of small private schools because of losses,” Duterte said.

She added that private schools will decide on the learning modality they want to adopt.

“DepEd, however, hopes that parents/guardians of private school learners would not miss the abundance of scientific studies available on the advantages of in-person classes over online learning,” Duterte-Carpio said.

“DepEd will also expedite the review of our blended learning program to ensure that it will benefit our learners and essentially address learning issues,” she added.