MANILA: Schools may independently suspend in-person classes based on safety risks within their premises and seek to resume face-to-face learning even while a local government-ordered suspension remains in effect, under a new policy issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Executive Order (EO) No. 130, signed on Oct. 28 but published only on Tuesday (Nov 3), establishes a three-tier framework for suspending and resuming classes, activities, and on-site work in public and private educational institutions and learning centres.
The order allows schools to declare a so-called granular suspension based on documented, site-specific threats to the safety, health or welfare of students and personnel, provided there is no existing automatic or localised suspension ordered by the concerned local chief executive (LCE), specifically by a mayor or a governor.
It also allows schools to seek an earlier resumption of in-person classes even if a localised suspension remains in effect, provided a site-specific assessment shows that conditions are already safe and the concerned LCE concurs.
Under EO 130, class suspensions may be triggered through three mechanisms: automatic suspension based on official hazard warnings and prescribed technical thresholds, localised suspension declared by LCEs based on prevailing conditions and granular suspension declared by individual educational institutions based on their own safety assessments.
The Department of Education has 30 days from the order’s effectivity to issue implementing guidelines, including the specific hazard thresholds and procedures for suspending and resuming classes.
EO 130 also amends EO 66, series of 2012, which previously governed class suspensions and work in government offices during calamities and weather disturbances. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
