The Department of Education (DepEd) has instructed schools to “politely” decline requests to utilize buildings and campuses as isolation facilities as a part of the measures to guarantee improvement of education facilities would continue amid the pandemic.
“The pandemic did not hamper our mission to provide conducive and motivating facilities. Our infrastructure projects remain a priority to help our stakeholders, especially teachers, to have a comfortable place to work in,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said following the issuance of regulations sent to officials and school heads on the use of schools as isolation areas to give way to infrastructure projects.
However, if the recipient school is currently being used as an isolation area, the DepEd stressed that two courses of action may be taken:
• First, if the school is large enough to segregate the isolation area and the construction site, the school can still house the isolation facility provided that barriers are in place.
• Second, if the school has a limited area to cater to both the isolation facility and the construction of school buildings, it must coordinate with the local government unit (LGU) and request the immediate transfer of the isolation facility to a nearby school that is not a recipient of infrastructure projects.
The DepEd noted that local government units are currently using some schools as isolation facilities and vaccination sites. The DepEd has yet to provide to the media the number of schools being used as isolation facilities and vaccination hubs.
It is part of the DepEd’s full cooperation with other government agencies on the measures related to the mobilization of resources to combat the Covid-19 threat.
Undersecretary for Administration and DepEd Task Force Covid-19 Chair Alain del B. Pascua noted that the DepEd is one with the national effort to curb the surge of Covid-19 cases and “hopefully putting an end to the pandemic.”
“However, we must also ensure that the needs of learners are met including the establishment of adequate, safe, and conducive learning facilities, as mandated,” Pascua said.
The DepEd is expecting infrastructure projects to start in the third quarter of 2021, which will require the use of the school premises for the construction or repair of school buildings.
Thus, DepEd stressed, schools may cite this reason for declining requests.