PREPARATIONS FOR THE PILOT FACE-TO-FACE, EXPANSION AND TRANSITIONING TO NEW NORMAL (Download: DepEd MEMORANDUM No.71 , s. 2021)

To: Undersecretaries
Assistant Secretaries
Bureau and Service Directors
Regional Directors
School Division Superintendents
Public and Private Schools
All others Concerned

1. The President has approved on September 20, 2021 the joint proposal of DepEd and DOH for the conduct of pilot face-to-face classes in 100 public schools and 20 private schools, or a total of 120 schools nationwide.

2. Based on the joint memorandum circular signed by the Secretaries of DepEd and DOH, schools that will be included in the pilot phase must satisfy the following conditions: located in minimal risk areas, secured LGU concurrence, passed the School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT), and secured parent's consent. The full details of the guidelines for the pilot study are contained in the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, s 2021, which can be downloaded from DepEd official webpage at https:/ /www.deped.gov.ph/wpcontent/uploads/2021 /09/DEPED-DOH-JMC-No.-01-s.-2021_.pdf.

A. Public Schools
1. All public schools nationwide shall conduct a self-assessment using the School Safety Assessment Tool [SSAT] (Enclosure No.1) in preparation for the expansion phase and onward transitioning to new normal of face-to-face. The Schools Division Superintendents shall facilitate the administration of the School Safety Assessment Tool in all schools in their respective area of jurisdiction and determine the level of readiness based on the result of SSAT. For schools with substantial gaps based on the result, the SDO shall provide assistance to address the gaps and improve readiness.

2. Meanwhile, the identified 59 pilot schools shall undertake coordinated preparation for the start of face-to-face classes on November 15, 2021. Please refer to Enclosure No. 2 for the list of 59 pilot school identified by DOH. Full compliance to the standards of the Joint Memorandum Circular is a must to ensure full readiness. All Regional Directors and Schools Division Superintendents are instructed to ensure that preparations are done and coordination and LGUs and partners are undertaken.

B. Private Schools
1. All private schools shall undertake self-assessment using the School Safety Assessment Tool attached to this memorandum. The result of the self-assessment will determine the level of readiness for the safe re-introduction of face-to-face and will give an indication of what improvements or adjustments are needed to raise the level of readiness for face-to-face.
2. For private schools that intend to be included in the 20 pilot schools, school administrators are requested to submit the documents below to the office of the Regional Director.
a. Letter of Intent addressed to the Regional Director stating the objectives, expected outcomes and commitment to observe the minimum health and safety protocols.
b. Proposed implementation plan following the four components of the operational framework, namely: (i) Safe
Operations, (ii) Teaching and Learning, (iii) Including the most marginalized, and (iv) Well-being and Protection. The full details of standards in each component are provided in the JMC No. 1. The proposal must show clear compliance to the standards set in the JMC.
c. Contingency plan showing action points to address contingencies that might occur during implementation.
d. Accomplished School Safety Assessment Tool. Schools must pass all elements of the tool to be included in the list of possible pilot school.
3. These documents shall be submitted electronically to the Office of Regional Director, not later than October 22, 2021.
4. Each region shall undertake rigorous review and evaluation of all proposals and shall nominate three private schools to Central Office for consideration, which will be subjected to further evaluation by DepEd-Private Education Office (DepEd PEO), DepEd technical team, and DOH for the final 20 private schools after careful analysis and deliberation. All schools who passed the evaluation, but not considered for the pilot run are considered schools in-waiting for the expanded phase.
5. An official notification letter informing of the result of the selection process will be sent to each school who submitted a proposal.

C. International Schools
l. Given the unique nature of International Schools and their claim of capacity to implement face-to-face classes, they will be allowed to implement face-to-face classes outside the 120 pilot schools subject to evaluation of their plan by DepEd and DOH. They are required to submit their proposal on how they intend to implement face-to-face classes. DepEd and DOH shall jointly evaluate their proposals and transmit the result to the IATF for approval. Once approved, they can commence face-to-face classes and assume full responsibility and accountability. They shall be required to secure LGU concurrence and parent's consent. They shall also be requested to submit their report on the conduct of their face-to-face classes to the DepEd Central Office addressed to the Secretary, for knowledge sharing purposes.

D. Acceleration of Vaccination of Teachers and School Personnel in Public and Private schools

1. Department of Education (DepEd) and National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 agreed to accelerate the vaccination of teachers and school personnel. Refer to Enclosure No. 3 for the description of the DepEd-NTF and LGU Acceleration of Vaccination of Teachers and other School Personnel. This will be parallel to t-he existing mechanism of teachers directly registering with their respective LGUS. The parallel institutional arrangement shall proceed in three phases as follows:
a. To operationalize the framework, DepEd shall generate a line list of all teachers and school personnel that have yet to
 
be vaccinated which will be the basis of NTF for the allocation of vaccines to respective LGUs where the pilot schools are located. Part of the agreements is for DepEd, NTF and LGU to determine the most efficient arrangement for the vaccination, including the possible clustering of areas and identification of host LGUs and vaccination sites and set vaccination schedules for teachers and school personnel. While we prioritize the generation of the line list for 59 pilot schools and nominated NCR schools, all ROs and SDOs are directed to start generating the line list of all unvaccinated teachers and school personnel in every public and private schools nationwide using the same template in preparation for the nationwide vaccination.
b. Given this, it is important to quickly complete the generation of line list of teachers and school personnel and cooperation of RO, SDO and Schools is enjoined. The Bureau of Learner Support Services (BLSS) will issue a separate memo for instruction on how to accomplish the line list template.
c. The completion of the accelerated vaccination of DepEd teachers and school personnel will provide an additional layer of protection to all participants of the face-to-face classes, and supports as well the overall vaccination drive of the national government.
3. Please refer to Enclosure No.4 for the detailed instructions on the preparation of pilot schools.
4. For inquiries, the Face-to-Face Secretariat at the DepEd Central Office with email address ps.od@deped.gov.ph and Quality Assurance Division (QAD) in every Region will be happy to assist you.

For immediate compliance.
Immediate dissemination of this Memorandum is desired.

LEONOR MAGTOLIS BRIONES
Secretary

Source: DepEd

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