Dry run of in-person classes cancelled, best ‘New Year’s gift’ to students says official

Recently, the Department of Education (DepEd) has cancelled the planned dry run of in-person classes that was supposed to be carried out in January. A top official of private schools association has welcomed the decision and said that it was the ‘government’s best New year’s gift’ to the students in public and private schools.

Eleazardo Kasilag, president of Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators (Fapsa), said the planned dry run “[does] not carry the objectives” of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) nor was it “the best move to herald the new year.”

He added that as the country is currently battling the COVID-19 pandemic, the dry run for in-person classes goes against the IATF’s guidelines, specifically prohibiting minors from going out.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also recalled his approval for the dry run, on Saturday, as he cited about a new identified coronavirus strain.