The Department of Education (DepEd) is seeking new rules that would allow individual schools to resume classes despite suspensions in effect across an entire city or municipality to prevent prolonged disruption of classes after disasters.
DepEd has submitted a draft executive order (EO) to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. following three weeks of monsoon rains that caused massive flooding and landslides, forcing thousands of schools to cancel classes.
“While safety will always remain our nonnegotiable priority, we can no longer rely on broad, blanket suspensions where an entire city shuts down even when individual campuses are dry, safe, and ready to teach,” DepEd Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara stated.
Under the proposed executive order (EO), schools that are safe and accessible may continue “granular” operations based on site-specific safety assessment.
“If a school is clear, accessible, and certified safe, our learners should be back in the classroom without delay,” Angara added.
DepEd cited data indicating that public schools lost up to 53 teaching days during School Year 2023-2024 due to weather disturbances and other non-instructional disruptions.
The proposed policy would revise Executive Order No. 66, s. 2012, which established guidelines for the automatic and localized suspension of classes and work in government offices during weather disruptions and disasters.
DepEd said the proposed rules would require verifiable evidence to ensure that decisions are based on objective conditions.
Public school heads could initiate face-to-face class resumption while a city or municipality-wide suspension remains active as long as they complete a documented evaluation of campus conditions and get the approval of the local chief executive.
Meanwhile, private schools would be allowed to announce the resumption of classes in close coordination with the local chief executive.
DepEd stated that local government and school division offices would have a one-hour concurrence period upon receiving a school’s safety assessment.
