THE DEPARTMENT of Education is likely to expand limited face-to-face classes in January 2022, Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma said.

Garma said that class hours may also be extended. Learners in Kindergarten spend 3 hours in their classrooms while those in higher grades have classes for four hours.

“This would happen by the early part of next year. We are optimistic that we could start the expansion phase by January,” he said.

The Education department allowed 272 public schools and 18 private schools to conduct in-person classes.

“We are doing the pilot precisely because we want to learn from this. This will serve as the basis for our recommendation to the Office of the President if ever we’re going to expand this next year,” Garma said.

Earlier, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan raised that teachers demand for longer school hours as the mandated hours are not enough.