PHYSICAL classes will resume in 120 schools once President Rodrigo Duterte gives his go-signal, the Department of Education said.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones gave assurances that the department is ready to hold face-to-face classes in 100 public schools and 20 private institutions.

“We have spent a lot of time studying the implementation of pilot face-to-face classes amid the Covid19 pandemic, and we are ready for it,” Briones said during a Laging Handa briefing on Friday.

“We initially identified 1,900 schools, then it was reduced to 600 plus schools… now we are ready to implement face-to-face classes in 100 public schools and 20 private schools. We are just waiting for the go signal from the President,” she added.

Medical experts recommended that younger learners be given priority when face-to-face classes resume.

“We can gradually shift in doing away with printed materials and further digitization of our learning materials, but health and safety remain the most important,” Briones said.

DepEd records showed that 27.5 million students enrolled for School Year 2021-2022.

President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to decide on resuming face-to-face classes, saying he did not want to gamble on children’s health.