MORE than 5,000 schools in Central Luzon are expected to conduct face-to-face classes in the upcoming school year, according to a Department of Education official.

DepEd Information III Michelle Catap-Lacson said 3,686 public schools and 1,487 private schools in the region have been nominated to implement in-person classes.

“All our public schools, as well as private schools, are now undergoing School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) compliance for them to be able to conduct face-to-face classes,” Lacson said.

“One of the security measures that we also look into which is included in the SSAT is for the schools to provide safety equipment for our teachers,” she added.

Lacson also said while some schools in the region have already implemented limited in-school classes in the past seven months, there were no reported transmission of Covid19.

“For the past seven months, we have not recorded a single case of Covid19 transmission in our schools,” she said.

President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. earlier said the government is eyeing full face-to-face classes in November this year.