Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday said public school classes for the school year 2022 to 2023 will start on August 22, 2022, and end on July 7, 2023.

In explaining Department Order No. 34, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr approved, the Vice President also said that by November 2, all public schools should have transitioned to in-person classes.

Duterte also underscored the significance of face-to-face classes.

“Meron po tayong na-cite na study doon sa ating presentation sa Pangulo, and this is a published paper already, na there are really, truthfully learning losses sa mga bata kapa'g sila po ay nasa online classes or nasa distance learning,” Duterte told reporters in a interview Thursday.

“At ang nakalagay pa doon (research) na it is more pronounced, and learners are disadvantaged at homes. So ang ibig sabihin po noon, it is worst doon sa ating pamilya na naghihirap,” Duterte added.

The Education Secretary also said she was willing to hold dialogues with the sector’s stakeholders to discuss the Department Order No. 34 following calls for the postponement in the opening of classes to a later month instead of August.

“Wala pong problema ang gobyerno sa pakikipagdayalogo sa lahat po ng stakeholders, lalong-lalo na po sa Department of Education, sa amin pong mga partners in delivering quality education dito sa ating bansa,” Duterte told reporters in an interview.

Duterte stressed that dialogues with stakeholders are welcome mechanisms for consultations to include essential sectors in developing plans especially that public officials should perform their jobs “in the spirit of diplomacy.”

However, despite proposals to postpone the opening of classes, Duterte said the D.O. 34’s provisions will take effect as scheduled.

The DO 34 has laid down options, she said.

“For August 22 until October 31, meron po tayong nilagay doon sa Department Order natin na mga options. Unang-una, is 5 days in-person classes. Pangalawa, is blended modality. Ito po yung 3 days na in-person and then 2 days na remote, or distance learning. And then after they can shift to 4 days in-person classes and 1 day distance learning. Or they can mix up. And ang pangatlo natin na nilagay natin doon, which came from the private sector and was approved by the President for a limited time, was the full online classes,” Duterte explained.

"By November 2, dapat po nag-transition na tayo lahat sa 5 days in-person classes except those who are exempted under Department Order 21 year of 2019 and Department Order 1 year of 2020,” she added.

OVP Media