LAOAG CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) in Ilocos Norte is now ready for the joint online kick-off program of Brigada Eskwela and Oplan Balik Eskwela for this school year amid the implementation of the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in the province.
Over 80,000 learners in public schools and about 7,000 in private schools are expected to enroll this school year 2020-2021 based on the analysis of the Schools Division of Ilocos Norte (SDOIN). On Monday, schools division superintendent, Joann Corpuz, discouraged all school heads from requiring teachers to report physically in the school and follow the work arrangement status quo.
In a memorandum issued to all regional and division offices, physical presence of all teachers in school on June 1 to 5 is highly discouraged thus advising them to implement work from home arrangement, while the first two weeks of enrollment shall completely be remote.
“Learners and their parents were advised to use the online enrollment forms that were rolled out in every school to facilitate online enrollment of all grade levels. School heads will lead the planning of the activities to implement the system depending on their local health situation,” said Alfredo Medrano, planning officer of SDOIN.
Unlike the previous conduct of Brigada Eskwela where physical preparation of school facilities and classroom maintenance were conducted, the main focus of engaging partners this year is to support the department for the provision of opportunities to continue with the Learning Continuity Plan in line with the current situation.
“The SDOIN will conduct an online capability building of Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) officials on their roles in the different learning modalities, and online forum with different local government unit representatives,” said Valerie Talamayan, senior education program specialist.
In response to the public health emergency situation, the DepEd has developed a Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan laying down direction for basic education which includes the “no face-to-face” policy for the conduct of “Brigada Eskwela” and “Oplan Balik Eskwela” activities for the period of June 1 to August 29.
An online platform was launched Monday to serve as the Public Assistance Desk in every school division on guidelines and policies for these activities. The department will host an online kick-off using the Microsoft Teams and other media platforms with the online participation of all regions and divisions including selected stakeholders.
