Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Thursday said the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking into the effect of prolonged absence of face-to-face classes on learners.

“Dahil alam naman natin, niri-recognize natin na ang face-to-face aspect ay importanteng bahagi sa (Because we know, we recognize that face-to-face aspect is an important part of) blended learning. You cannot talk about blended learning without considering also face-to-face,” Briones said in a televised Palace briefing.

Citing a DepEd survey, Briones reported that most of the learner-respondents want to have face-to-face classes already but a significant percentage of the parents remain undecided about it.

“Ang teachers din, gusto din nila kasi nakikita nila talaga iyong pangangailangan ng face-to-face no matter how limited, maski isang oras o dalawang oras, isang araw, tatlong araw, ganoon, ganoon (The teachers also, they already want to conduct face-to-face classes no matter how limited, even for an hour or two, once or thrice a week),” she said.

The DepEd, Briones said, also recognizes the importance of child socialization secondary to learning for learners aged five to seven years old.

She said the agency now is preparing for the pilot face-to-face classes for this age group of learners “depending on the assessment” of the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Diseases and the Department of Health.

Briones said the upcoming rollout of the government’s vaccination program will also be considered in the preparation for face-to-face classes.

“Anong age natin i-vaccinate ang mga bata, kung i-vaccinate man? Fifteen-sixteen, sixteen-seventeen, etc., kasi right now, hindi natin sinasama ang mga bata. Siguro iyon ang question na konektado doon (What age should we vaccinate the learners? Fifteen-sixteen, sixteen-seventeen, etc., because the children can’t be vaccinated right now. Maybe that is the question related to that),” she added. (PNA)