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DepEd Requirements for Safe Return to Schools and Offices in the Light of COVID-19 Pandemic

Attached herewith is Aide Memoire dated June 02, 2020, from Alain Del B. Pascua, Undersecretary for Administration, DepEd Executive Committee, relative to on the Urgent Need to Address Non-Infrastructure Health-Related Requirements for Safe Return to Schools and Offices.

On March 12, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte, upon the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), placed the National Capital Region under a community quarantine in response to the COVID-19 situation. As confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to increase, the President on March 16 declared the entire island of Luzon under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) imposing stricter preventive measures. On March 17, the President issued Proclamation No. 929, declaring the Philippines under a state of calamity for at least six months.

These initial declarations, as well as the more recent ones, have affected government and office operations, including the implementation of major programs, projects, and activities.

As part of DepEd’s response, the DepEd Task Force COVID-19 was formed at the Central Office, and COVID-19 DRRM Teams, in field offices. The Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) of the Department has also been drafted to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the learners, teachers, and personnel in the time of COVID-19 while finding ways for education to continue amidst the crisis for the upcoming school year. Aligned with the LCP are the minimum health standards that must be observed in schools and DepEd offices, depending on the risk severity grading of the locality.

To ensure the operationalization of the minimum health standards in schools and DepEd offices, infrastructure and non-infrastructure health-related requirements needs to be urgently addressed. Pending the finalization of infrastructure requirements, the following must be prioritized:

Health-Related NonInfrastructure RequirementsAvailable FundsNeeded Funds
a. Emergency Clinic Packages (PPEs, Masks, etc)3,275,200.004,903,383,800.00
b. Weekly and Daily Disinfecting Packages (spray equipment, chemicals, protective suit)110,801,600.007,887,126,560.00
c. Health and Hygiene Kits (toothbrushes, toothpastes, soap, thermal scanner, etc)601,952,760.0024,174,907,110.00
d. Immune Booster/ Multivitamins2,800,000.0010,214,856,800.00
e. Preventive Alert System in Schools (PASS, DO 34 s. 2003, Status of Health of Learners and Personnel Mobile App)None25,000,000.00
f. Information and Advocacy Materials (Posters)6,015,000.00170,140,000.00
TOTAL724,844,560.0037,160,557,470.00

The health commodities for Safe Return to Schools and Offices, will be distributed in bundle good for 3 months consumption:

DepEd Health Related Non-Infrastructure Requirements
DepEd Health Related Non-Infrastructure Requirements

Activities to be Undertaken by the School Heath Division-Bureau of Learner Support Services, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service, Administrative Service

Emergency Clinic Packages (PPEs, Masks, First Aid kits, etc.)

Emergency Response Kit costs PhP 20,470.00 per set to be distributed (one time) to Central Office, Regional Offices, Division Offices and Schools. This includes the following:

  • Surgical Mask
  • Gloves
  • Coverall
  • Goggles
  • Head cover
  • Shoe Cover
  • Face Shield
  • Bag
  • Various Medicines
  • First Aid Supplies
PackageRecipientsQuantityProposed AllocationAvailable FundsFund SourceAdditional Budget Required
Emergency Response KitCentral Office Kits1603,275,200.003,275,200.00DPRP 2020-
Regional Office Kits2555,219,350.005,219,850.00
Schools Division Office Kits3,34563,472,150.0063,472,150.00
Schools Kits235,9404,329,691,300.004,829,691,300.00
TOTAL239,7004,906,659,000.003,275,200.004,903,383,800.00

Weekly and Daily Disinfecting Packages (spray equipment, chemicals, protective suit)

  • Disinfection of Offices and Facilities will include the following items:
  • Disinfection Sprayer
  • Disinfectant Solution, daily consumption
  • PPE for Disinfection Team
  • Cloth Mask
  • Gloves
  • Coverall
  • Rubber Boots
  • Goggles

Health and Hygiene Kits

Health and Hygiene Kits will be distributed among DepEd Personnel (Teaching and Non-Teaching Personnel) and all learners nationwide. There are also bundled items for each offices and schools for the consumption of office/school populace.

For Teaching and Non-teaching Personnel:

  • Cloth Mask
  • Gloves

For Learners:

Kinder to Grade 6

  • Toothpaste, 1 pc per learner
  • Toothbrush, 1 pc per learner
  • Soap, 1 pc per learner
  • Face Masks, 3 pcs per learner

Junior and Senior High School Learners

  • Cloth Mask
  • Gloves
ItemsRecipientsQuantityProposed AllocationAvailable FundsFund SourceAdditional Budget Required
Cloth Mask GlovesCentral Office Personnel1,9305,674,200.0011,996,380.00DBM PS Virtual Store Wallet-
Regional Office Personnel2,5503,213,000.003,121,200.00DBM PS Virtual Store Wallet and GASS fund91,800.00
Schools Division Office Personnel33,45042,147,000.0042,147,000.00
School Personnel870,422161,028,070.00161,028,070.00
JHS and SHS Learners8,771,1731,622,667,005.0019,606,880.00DPRP 20201,603,060,125.00
Toothpaste Toothbrush SoapAll K-6 learners13,812,263564,723,800.00564,728,800.00SDHCP 2020
Cloth Face MaskAll K-6 learners13,812,2631,035,919,725.001,035,919,725.00
Total3,435,377,800.00599,453,760.001,806,326,995.00

For Offices and Schools:

DepEd Central Office, Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices will receive a set of: thermal scanner (to be utilized by the personnel assigned in the entrance gate), hand soap and liquid soap dispenser (for hand washing facility within office premises).

For Schools, the Rapid Screening Instrument for Human Body Temperature, a crowd fever scanner will be used to easily identify sick personnel/learners. Alcohol and hand sanitizers will be distributed in all rooms (instructional or non-instructional). Liquid hand soap will be distributed in WASH areas/facilities.

  • Rapid Screening Instrument for Human Body Temperature, 1 per school
  • Thermo Gun/Thermal scanner, 1 per office
  • Liquid hand soap for handwashing, 1 gallon per office per week
  • Liquid soap dispenser, 1 pc per office/school
ItemsRecipientsQuantityProposed AllocationAvailable FundsFund SourceAdditional Budget Required
(Offices) Set: Thermogun Liquid Hand Soap Liquid Soap DispenserCentral Office12,306,3S0267,000.00AMD Fund-
(Schools) ‘Rapid Screening Instrument for Human Body Temperature Alcohol Liquid Hand Soap Liquid Soap DispenserRegional Office172,905,300153,100.00DBM PS Virtual Store Wallet2,747,200.00
Schools Division Office22333,110,700.002,073,900.00DBM PS Virtual Store Wallet36,036,300.00
All Schools47,13322,329,796,115.0022,329,796,115.00
Total47,42922,373,618,9952,499,000.0022,368,580,115.00

Immune Booster (Multivitamins)

For teaching and non-teaching personnel:

Multivitamins, 1 bottle per personnel, Vitamic C (Ascorbic Acid) with Zinc

For learners:

Kinder to Grade 3

  • Multivitamins, 1 bottle per learner per month

Grade 4 – Grade 6

  • Multivitamins, 1 bottle per learner

JHS to SHS

  • Multivitamins, 1 bottle per learner
ItemsRecipientsQuantityProposed AllocationAvailable FundsFund SourceAdditional Budget Required
MultivitaminsCentral Office Personnel1,9304,723,500.002,300,000.00BHROD-EWD1,923,500.00
Regional Office Personnel2,5502,677,500.002,677,500.00
Schools Division Office Personnel33,45035,122,500.00
School Personnel370,422304,647,700.00304,647,700.00
JHS and SHS Learners3,771,1733,069,910,550.003,069,910,550.00
MultivitaminsK-3 learners7,865,1124,719,067,200.004,719,067,200.00
G4-G6 learners5,947,1512,081,502,350.002,031,502,850.00
TOTAL23,491,78810,217,656,800.002,800,000.0010,214,856,800.00

Preventive Alert System in Schools (PASS, DO 34, s. 2003, Status of Health of Learners and Personnel Mobile App)

The PASS is a systematic relay of information on a child’s or teacher’s state of health to appropriate personnel and/or agencies in the locality. The following must be done for PASS:

Learners will observe the well-being of their own classmates and if someone among them is not feeling well or has colds/cough and is feverish, the sick learner will be reported to the teacher for validation of his/her condition.

Early morning health inspection shall be conducted routinely by the teacher to detect the presence of fever and other signs and symptoms of infection. The teacher shall keenly observe the health status of each learner in the classroom. If the teacher finds out that a learner is sick, this case will be reported immediately to the school head.

The school head shall notify the family/guardian member of the sick learner. A face mask should be worn by the feverish person and immediately referred to the school health personnel or the nearest barangay/municipal/city health center for evaluation or referral to a hospital if needed. The same process shall be observed for teachers or other personnel who will exhibit symptoms of infection.

Learners, teachers, and other personnel evaluated by school health personnel/ referred to hospitals shall strictly observe the advice of the health personnel/hospital, including the possibility of home quarantine.

The condition of the learner, teacher, and other personnel should be closely followed up by the attending school health personnel.

Learners on home quarantine shall be given ADM of education.

Information and Advocacy Materials (Posters)

Information, education and communication (IEC) is a broad term comprising a range of approaches, activities and outputs. IEC activities may include designing and providing training in communication skills, carrying out research on audiences to determine what information is needed and the most effective way of delivering it. as well as designing and producing materials to support such activities. The materials the IEC campaign produces plays an essential role in delivering key messages to develop positive health behaviors of both learners and personnel.

The promotion of health is important to the quality and cost of education. The School Health and Nutrition Program is organized to help assure promotion, protection and maintenance of individual health and nutritional well-being. IEC Materials to address health related requirements for safe return to schools will focus on the following programs, in line with OK sa DepEd:

TimelineActivity
May to July 2020Dissemination of “Letters of Gratitude and Hope" to the frontliners
Development of health posters
First three months of return to schools: (August. September, October)IEC materials on COVID-19 and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Sendees (MHPSS)
Postings on: WASH in Schools- Proper Hygiene (social distancing measures, cough etiquette, proper handwashing)
Medical. Dental and Nursing Sendees- Protocols for health emergency in schools including services for other health concerns
School Mental Health- Coping up with stress and developing healthy habits
Postings for the next months (October. November. December)Postings on: Nutrition support to learners
Substance Abuse Prevention
Adolescent Reproductive Health Education

Cost requirements

ItemAmountFund SourceNeeded Additional FundsRemarks
Tarpaulins170,140,000.00170,140,000.00Recommended to be charged against School MOOE
COVID 19 and MHPSS IEC and Advocacy materials12,735,000.00DPRP 2020
Total182,875,000.00170,140,000.00
  1. All DepEd Offices must be allowed to use a portion of MOOE funds (unit cost of items to be procured must not be more than PhP 15,000.00) for COVID-19-related activities such as conduct of PASS and printing and replication of IEC materials.
  2. Funds realignment shall be approved immediately to address the needs of the Learning Continuity Plan of the Department, as response to the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
  3. Intensify partnership and linkages to address the needs not captured in the LCP.
  4. Propose the allocation of P37,160,557,470.00 to fund the health-related requirements to safe return to schools and offices starting July 2020 until December 2020.

ALAIN DEL B. PASCUA
Undersecretary

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