24 Private Schools in Central Visayas Skip SY 2020-2021
A total of twenty-four private schools in Central Visayas have submitted their intent to skip the school year 2020-2021 for basic education. With the on going pandemic caused by the coronavirus, these schools do not wish to operate. The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines continue to rise making it difficult for face to face learning in most areas.
Schools in Central Visayas Skip SY2020-2021
There are 22 of them in Cebu (Cebu City, Naga City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Danao City, Toledo City, and Carcar City), one in Bohol and one in Negros Oriental. The Department of Education (DepEd) in Region 7 Central Visayas Director Salustiano Jimenez said 95 to 97 percent of these private schools are kindergarten and pre-elementary schools. According to him, the closure is just temporary and only for this school year. Although, with the numbers of COVID-19 cases in the world, it is hard to determine and to plan what the next school year will be.
These private schools cannot comply with the requirement set by DepEd, the Department of Health, and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, which is to secure a special permit to operate. The safety of both the students and the educators are to be taken account of. Providing certain modules and learning materials that were not of the norm can be challenging. DepEd7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said 500 of the 1,005 private schools in Central Visayas have been issued with special permits.
Aside from ensuring the safety of students through online classes, the other factor these private schools must consider is the number of enrollments. A major reason why most of the schools have to wish not to operate is because of the low enrollment for this school year.
Philippine Online Class – Breaking the Internet!
Several private schools in the Philippines have operated already since August. Through online classes, enrolled students are getting continuous basic education from private schools. For the public schools on the other hand, classes for the school year 2020-2021 have been moved to October from August.
DepEd7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said that public schools can accommodate students displaced by non-enrollment in private schools. He said a public school cannot deny a student from enrolling, especially if the student is a resident of the area or barangay where the school is located. Since the internet is one of the major keys to access online classes, a lot of families do not enroll their kids for high tuition schools. Most parents will have to enroll their kids in public schools to attain basic education despite the pandemic.
For the safety of everyone, we encourage you to stay at home. Wear your facemask when going out, practice social distancing, and always sanitize and wash your hands.
