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DepEd ready to give more funds to schools with in-person classes

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Arra Perez, ABS-CBN News

<h3> DepEd &#x27;optimistic&#x27; of shift to education&#x27;s &#x27;new normal phase&#x27;</h3><p>MANILA- The Department of Education (DepEd) said it is monitoring the funding availability of schools that will participate in the expansion phase of face to face classes, and assured that additional budget is ready to be distributed to schools upon the &quot;necessity&quot;.</p><p>But Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla admitted that it is &quot;not yet that time to identify and approve additional funding&quot; for the schools, as it is only the start of the year and schools just received their 2022 budget.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/22/deped-allows-start-of-expanded-in-person-classes">DepEd starts &#x27;progressive expansion&#x27; of in-person classes</a></li></ul><p>Sevilla added that in contrast, additional funds were given to schools that participated in the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in November last year due to their budgetary limitations because it was already the end of the year.</p><p>&quot;So talaga pong, at that time, we do understand that the fund of the school is already depleted. Kasi ang ating budget ay hindi school-year based, ito ay calendar-based. So ang pera na meron sa mga eskwelahan ay effective January to December,&quot; she explained.</p><p>(Our budget is not school-year based but calendar-based. So the money for our schools is effective from January to December.) </p><p>&quot;Unlike now, January ay naayos na po iyong policy. In fact, during the pilot ay marami na pong sumasali sa ating listahan at sila po ay nag-prepare na on their own. So the difference now is the timing,&quot; she added. </p><p>(The policy was fixed in January. During the pilot, many schools joined our list and they prepared on their own.) </p><p>&quot;January, February ay fresh na fresh, bagong-bago pa po ang ating budget, 2022 budget.&quot;</p><p>(Our budget for January, February is fresh.) </p><p>According to the official, there is still an option to provide additional funds to help schools comply with the requirements of in-person classes amid the pandemic.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/classified-odd/02/02/22/deped-probes-module-telling-students-to-interview-someone-from-the-spanish-era">DepEd probes learning module telling students to &#x27;interview someone from the Spanish era&#x27;</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Halimbawa, ngayon hindi lang naman level of kinder to Grade 3 and senior high school. We have understood that there are additional levels. In terms of the number of hours that they will stay, iyong pilot kasi talagang, as mentioned by Asec. Malcolm (Garma), 3 to 4 hours,&quot; Sevilla shared.</p><p>&quot;Ang amin pong sinisiguro ay meron po kaming nakalaan at nakaantabay na pondo na nandito sa central office, na pwede naming ibigay sa level ng region, division at eskwelahan.&quot;</p><p>(What is sure is we have allotted and secured funds here in the central office. We can give it to the regional, division, and school-level.) </p><p>For private schools, Sevilla said the voucher program Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) is in place.</p><p>&quot;Gagawin natin na kung sino po iyong mai-include sa mga pilot... Sisiguraduhin natin na iyong mga payables natin sa kanila, iyong mga claims nila na ating babayaran out of the voucher program will be prioritized so they can have the funding that they need at makapag-ready na rin sila for the next school year,&quot; she said.</p><p>(Whoever is included in the pilot, we will make sure that the payables for them, their claims, will be paid and prioritized so they can get ready next school year.) </p><div><strong> &#x27;NEW NORMAL PHASE&#x27; </strong></div><p>DepEd on Friday also shared the agency&#x27;s plans to be able to follow these through and reach a &quot;new normal phase,&quot; following the recently approved start of the expansion phase. </p><p>Education Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma said this means blended learning is here to stay, wherein students are able to study inside classrooms and at home.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/22/alamin-guidelines-sa-pagpapalawig-ng-face-to-face-classes">ALAMIN: Paunang guidelines sa pagpapalawig ng face-to-face classes</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Part of the framework, really, is that after the expansion phase, we are very optimistic and very hopeful that we can already go into what we call as the new normal phase,&quot; Garma said. </p><div><strong>FROM OUR ARCHIVES</strong><br/> </div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1830691" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>&quot;Wherein talagang iyong pagkakaroon ng face-to-face natin will be part of the normal operation of our schools as the main delivery learning unit, in combination with the home-based learning,&quot; Garma added. </p><p>&quot;As emphasized by our secretary (DepEd Sec. Leonor Briones), hindi na tayo babalik doon sa pure face-to-face. We have to optimize the potential of home-based learning through technology and innovations in education.&quot;</p><p>(We will not go back to the pure face-to-face classes.)</p><p>To do this, Garma said the agency would set mechanisms and institutionalize processes &quot;to operationalize blended learning&quot;.</p><p>The official also explained why regional directors were authorized to begin in-person classes in their respective areas, and decide which schools will participate.</p><p>&quot;We are expecting more number of schools and, for that reason alone, it&#x27;s very hard for us in the central office to centralize the decision-making. So might as well delegate this authority to our regional directors so as to make the decision-making process faster,&quot; according to the official. </p><p>Garma added public and private schools will follow the same guidelines on the expansion phase of face to face classes. </p><p>There are no specific start dates, he noted, as these rely on the compliance and readiness of schools to implement in-person classes.</p><p>In a statement on Wednesday, DepEd listed parameters for schools that will participate in the expansion phase, which includes the following: </p><div> </div><ul>	<li> Schools must be located in Alert Levels 1 &amp; 2 areas</li>	<li> Other grade levels may be included based on school capacity, flexibility in contact time for teaching and learning, but meals must not be taken in school except during recess</li>	<li> only vaccinated teachers may participate in the face-to-face classes, while vaccinated learners are &quot;preferred.&quot;</li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1830128" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Education Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma also said blended learning is here to stay, wherein students are able to study inside classrooms and at home.

DepEd ready to give more funds to schools with in-person classes

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DepEd ready to give more funds to schools with in-person classes

Arra Perez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 04, 2022 06:57 PM PHT

Read More:

DepEd

face-to-face classes

update on face-to-face classes

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Department of Education

Annalyn Sevilla

Malcolm Garma

education

coronavirus

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