Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Tuesday said some education officials, teachers and other stakeholders recommended that the opening of classes should be moved to August as the country is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a televised briefing, Briones said: “Right now, what appears in our presentation is they are saying that for us to have more time to change the curriculum, the form of teaching and assure that schools are clean and safe for the students, it ( school opening) should be by August.”

Briones said they had an online survey with around 700,000 responders as they are doing a consultative approach before deciding on the matter.

Briones said the final decision for the school opening will be made by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), especially President Rodrigo Duterte.

“This will influence the opening of classes,” she said.

Briones said they are also eyeing two-month window period for the school opening.

“For us to have two extra months, the window period for the enrollment will be on the first week of June up to the last day of August,” she said.

“We will not waste that two-month period, we will continue our learning program, the change in our curriculum and the monitoring of nts to continue studying using their online learning platform called “DepEd (Department of Education) Commons”.

She said whatever happens, education must continue in the country.

“What is important is learning has to continue, health and safety but learning process must continue whether they are at home or whether they go to school,” Briones said.

“We are asking cooperation from the parents to cooperate on what advise the DepEd will release,” she added.

DepEd also said using school facilities as quarantine or isolation facilities should only be the local government units' “last option”.

And it is the last option, the local government units should coordinate with the DepEd office in their area.

DepEd said they have checklist with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Department of Health (DOH) on how to sanitize school facilities before, during and after it was used as quarantine facilities. Ella Dionisio/DMS