June 8, 2020 – We thank the President for reiterating the national government’s willingness to assist us in our endeavor to offer alternatives to face-to-face learning despite the public health situation.

We will comply with the President’s directive to postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine is available.

We assure our parents, learners, stakeholders, and the President that we prepare ourselves for this mission.

Indeed, it is challenging for us at the Department of Education to prepare our schools in a different setup. Still, we are committed to our duty to make education available and thriving, even in the most difficult time.

From the Central Office down to the school level, the Department is fully engaged in readying our operations based on our Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). We are updating our policies, realigning our finances, and collaborating with our partners so that our goals of providing quality education and protecting the safety and health of our constituents will be achieved.

Currently, we are continuing to conduct remote enrollment nationwide in order to assess learners’ household information, which will be crucial in the preparation and the contextualization of the learning delivery mode in each locality.

Meanwhile, the groundwork for blended learning is well underway. Radio, television, online and modular learning – which are pre-existing methods and were already used for decades – are being prepared and updated for this year. At the same time, teachers are being trained to utilize newer platforms and innovative tools to aid their professional development.

We are working with the private sector and education experts to make these necessary steps logistically sound, especially on the development, acquisition, and deployment of learning resources.

We will provide regular readiness assessment reports to the public as we have committed to Congress.

We will continue our preparations with a comprehensive BE-LCP and the President’s instruction serving as our guide. Finally, with our stakeholders coming together, we can leap towards achieving our ultimate goal – of making education a symbol of hope amidst doubts and uncertainties. [Adopted from Sec. Briones Statement, Department of Education]