TO ENSURE the safety of students and teachers during the rollout of limited face-to-face classes, the Department of Education and the Department of Health will work with local government units, school officials, and community stakeholders.

In the joint memorandum circular signed by the two agencies last September 27, the  government adopted the Shared Responsibility framework in the pilot implementation of physical classes to strengthen the school-community health and safety support system.

“Our responsibility for DepEd is to secure areas, the Local Government Units who have given their consent are prepared to cooperate, the permission of parents, and also the readiness of our own facilities in DepEd for limited face-to-face learning. On the other hand, the Department of Health will assess the health side readiness of the school,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said.

The agreement rests on four pillars — safe operations, teaching and learning, including the most marginalized, and protection of wellbeing.

The government allowed 120 schools to hold limited physical classes.

Participating learners must submit a signed consent from their parents. Teachers and school staff who will interact with learners must be fully vaccinated.

Bended learning will be applied. Class sizes will be limited to 12 learners for Kinder; 16 for Grades 1 to 3; 20 for Senior High School; and 12 for TVL workshops/Science laboratories.