THE DEPARTMENT of Education said on Monday that schools in areas under Covid19 Alert Level 1 can ease social distancing requirements starting in School Year 2022-2023.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said the order is based on the most recent guidelines from the Department of Health.

“Sa Alert Level 1 ay i-relax na rin sa darating na pasukan ‘yung physical distancing requirement. So ‘yun ang malaking pagbabago,” Malaluan said during the Laging Handa news briefing.

He, however, noted that the number of students allowed inside schools is still limited and only schools under Alert Level 1 and 2 can hold face-to-face classes.

Last month, DepEd said that it expects all schools to resume face-to-face classes in the upcoming school year.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said regional offices will come up with different approaches and modalities based on the assessment of the Department of Health and local governments in their areas.

Malaluan said that around 80% of schools nationwide are ready to conduct in-person classes.

He added that the department is crafting new overall guidelines for the coming school year which involve learning delivery modalities.

“The extent will be contained in the guidelines. How many days will be on face-to-face and how many we will allow for remote learning, we need to carefully look at this,” he said.