SENATORS Nancy Binay and Pia Cayetano urged the Department of Education to work on their public relations and information campaign efforts to explain their protocols on the implementation of face-to-face classes as well as emphasizing the importance of Covid19 vaccines.

Binay raised the need to hold detailed orientation and dialogue sessions with parents to explain the provisions of Department Order No. 34, or the directive governing the school calendar and activities for School Year 2022-2023.

The senator asked the DepEd if protocols are in place for an eventuality if in case a number of learners tested positive, would there be a shift to online classes, and whether parents were oriented on the new normal holding of face-to-face classes before the actual opening of classes on August 22.

Usec. Epimaco Densing III said the DepEd website contains answers to frequently-asked questions and a video presentation explaining the order will be available.

Binay stressed there are parents who still have apprehensions about sending their children to school and informing them about the actions taken by DepEd to prepare for a safe school opening will allay fears over the spread of Covid19 among students.

Meanwhile, Cayetano stressed part of DepEd’s obligation is to combat and overcome inaccurate news or information on the importance of vaccination that parents may get from various social media platforms.

“We don’t want any parents panicking, and sadly a lot of parents pick up and rely on news that are on TikTok, on Facebook. I hope DepEd is coming up with creative ways to not just balance this out but to overcome the reliance on those kinds of information,” she said.

Densing, meanwhile, vowed to ramp up their efforts to encourage students and parents to get vaccinated through their vaccination counseling programs and by putting up vaccination sites in participating schools.