The Department of Education on Monday said that the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine may affect opening preparations of schools under these areas – especially in terms of reproduction and distribution of modules.Education Secretary Leonor Briones, during the online press conference for its “Handang Isip, Handa Bukas” school readiness program, said that the MECQ has an impact on school opening preparations especially in terms of logistics.
MECQ is enforced in Metro Manila and four other provinces – Rizal, Bulacan, Laguna and Cavite – from August 4 to August 18 in an effort to curb the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country. Overall, there are 23.01 million students enrolled for School Year 2020-2021. Of this number, 21.4 million students enrolled in public schools and 1.53 million in private schools.
Alternatively, San Antonio said that the textbooks – mapped with Most Essential Learning Competencies – can be used with Activity Sheets and Weekly Learning Plans. “These can be sufficient substitutes for SLMs [so] learning can still continue,” he added.