ON THE condition that educational institutions, including the technical and vocational schools, will strictly implement the maximum standard of health protocols, Mayor Sara Duterte has permitted the conduct of face-to-face classes, examination and training in Davao City.

Mayor Sara’s Executive Order No. 47, Series of 2020, has allowed a “face-to-face conduct of classroom learning in educational institutions in the city where the learners are housed in dormitories, are isolated from other people and have regulated access to public places and provided that the necessary health protocols are implemented.”

The order, dated August 4, 2020, has also allowed higher educational institutions, including the post graduate courses, to conduct face-to-face examinations in the city beginning September 1, 2020, provided also “that the examinees are one meter apart and not more than 50 percent of the area of the classroom or venue is used and the same health protocols are observed.”

In his 5th State of the Nation Address on July 27, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte announced categorically that there will be no face-to-face classes until the Covid19 vaccine becomes available to the Filipino learners.

The President has instructed the Department of Education to implement, instead, the blended or flexible learning schemes, which include online classes, modular learning and a combination of the two learning modalities.

Posted on the city’s Facebook page on August 4, 2020 at 10:10 in the evening, Mayor Sara’s order also announced that the technical and vocational education and training centers in the city may also conduct a face-to-face training and competency assessment provided that all the required health protocols are strictly implemented.

EO No. 47 has reiterated the following health protocols in which the city’s chief executive will be requiring those learning institutions to strictly observe prior to the conduct of a face-to-face examination and classroom instruction:

• Masks should be used at all times in all public places. Hand-washing facilities and alcohol should be accessible to everyone;
• A distance of at least one meter from each other shall be implemented during meals and face-to-face classes;
• In no event can a class use more than 50 percent of the seating capacity of the classroom or venue. At all times, all chairs must at least be one meter apart;
• All activities where physical distancing cannot be complied with shall not be implemented

In the same EO No. 47, Mayor Duterte enjoined all private and public educational institutions in the city – from kindergarten to postgraduate studies – to be ready to implement a blended learning system until December 31, 2020 and for a possible extension until April 30, 2021.