President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. agreed to prioritize the conduct of face-to-face classes as he ordered the Department of Education to create a plan in preparation for this coming school year.

Marcos said Wednesday the government will be forced to continue carrying out blended learning if major education related concerns are not addressed. He suggested that the scheme could be done in some areas.

“Let's identify the areas where blended learning will be conducted so that we can focus. Prepare the devices and other things needed which were not supplied to the children during the pandemic," he said.

“We continue with blended learning but in very specific places. As much as possible, it will really be face-to-face," the chief executive added.

During Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, Marcos also asked Duterte for DepEd's plan to address several challenges such as availability of classrooms, teachers, and other concerns.

"Other issues mentioned by the President include internet connectivity and the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country, which is driven by the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus," the Presidential Communications Operations Office said.

In a statement, Duterte also confirmed that Marcos agreed to make face-to-face classes a priority but blended learning shall be considered in areas with "special circumstances".

"The President agreed that a plan should be made with a caveat that face-to-face classes shall be the priority and blended modality shall be considered only in specific schools and areas with special circumstances," she said.

The PCOO said '' the order was designed to address issues that might arise relative to the return to school of millions of students around the country for the coming school year 2022-2023."

The PCOO noted that Marcos expressed concern that the present issues "might affect the implementation of in-person learning, but he was nevertheless determined to proceed with the plan."

It also mentioned that Marcos also directed concerned agencies to rebuild and repair school buildings destroyed by Typhoon Odette last year.

Duterte said the DepEd will prepare a plan on what the agency would do beyond Oct. 31 which will be reviewed by Marcos but she noted that "the requirement of the five-day in-person classes by November 2, 2022, is still in effect." Robina Asido/DMS