This document outlines DepEd Order No. s. 2020 which provides guidelines on required health standards in DepEd offices and schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to ensure safety of learners, teachers, and personnel when physical operations resume as allowed. Key points include establishing standards to increase physical and mental resilience, reduce transmission, reduce contact, and reduce infection duration. Standards are based on DOH and IATF guidelines and include health protocols, physical distancing, facility sanitation, symptom monitoring and more. The DepEd Task Force COVID-19 will oversee implementation and communications.
1. DepEd O R D E R No. s. 2020
GUIDELINES ON THE REQUIRED
HEALTH STANDARDS
IN BASIC EDUCATION OFFICES AND
SCHOOLS
2. Department of Education (DepEd)
• Committed to ensure safe educational continuity
amidst the challenges of COVID-19
• provide learning opportunities
• give hope and stability
• contribute to the normalization of activities in the
country
• facilitate development of our learners
• bring normalcy to their lives
3. • The health and safety of our learners and
teaching and non-teaching personnel
– utmost importance
– must be protected at all times
4. • To ensure safe return WHEN ALLOWED by
the:
– Department of Health (DOH)
– Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF)
– Office of the President
5. • DepEd issues:
– Guidelines on the Required Health Standards in
Basic Education Offices and Schools and The
specific measures for COVID-19 mitigation in
schools and offices
– for the guidance of all learners, teachers, and
nonteaching personnel nationwide
6. guidelines and the specific
interventions are primarily based on:
• the DOH Administrative Order No. 2020-0015 or the Guidelines on the
Risk-Based Public Health Standards for COVID-19 Mitigation
• cited by the IATF to:
– aid all sectors in all settings to implement non-pharmaceutical intervention
• Scope:
• Central Office (CO)
• Regional Offices (ROs)
• Schools Division Offices (SDOs)
• all public and private elementary
• secondary schools
• community learning centers (CLCs)
7. • all offices are mandated to adopt the
guidelines on the required health standards
• implement the specific interventions for
COVID-19 mitigation
• other measures may be instituted
8. guided by the following principles laid out in the
DOH Administrative Order No. 2020-0015:
• a. Shared accountability
• - All efforts shall espouse the government’s
strategic directions of national government-
enabled, local government-led, and people-
centered response to the COVID-19 health
event
9. • b. Evidence-based decision making
• - All policies and decisions shall be guided by evidence
• - All actors shall periodically assess and recalibrate
policies, plans, programs, and guidelines
• c. Socio-economic equity and rights-based approach
• - Vulnerable groups should be:
• identified
• provided additional social safety net protections
10. • - Policy design shall always choose the least
restrictive alternative that achieves its goals
• - In the event of any conflict of rules or
guidelines
• - the interpretation shall ensure the protection
of human rights.
• - As such, the safety, needs, and well-being of
the individual shall prevail.
11. All concerned are directed to:
• Cooperate with DepEd in carrying out the
provisions set forth in these standards
• Report any COVID-19 related concerns to the:
• DepEd Task Force COVID-19 for Central Office
concerns
• COVID-19 DRRM Teams for:
– Regional
– Division
– School-level concerns
12. • Comply with the standards on health and
work safety issued by the DepEd
• participate in related programs, initiatives,
and activities
• Responsibly use and manage all:
– Safety
– Hygiene
– sanitary resources provided by the agency
13. • Contextualize and adapt implementation
processes and procedures according to:
– the socio-cultural realities and contexts of:
• learners
• communities
• - Support government initiatives for
responding to the COVID-19 pandemic
14. • For more information contact DepEd Task Force
COVID-19 through the:
– Bureau of Learner Support Services-School Health
Division (BLSS-SHD)
– 3rd Floor, Mabini Building, Department of Education
Central Office, DepEd Complex, Meralco Avenue, Pasig
City
– telephone no: (02) 8-632-9935
– email: medical.nursing@deped.gov.ph.
• Immediate dissemination of and strict
compliance with this Order are directed.
15. • I. RATIONALE
• II. SCOPE AND COVERAGE
• III. DEFINITION OF TERMS
• IV. POLICY STATEMENT
• V. DEPED REQUIRED HEALTH STANDARDS
FRAMEWORK
• VI. DEPED TESTING PROTOCOLS
• VII. SUPPORT MECHANISMS FOR THE DEPED
REQUIRED HEALTH STANDARDS
• VIII. BUDGET AND FINANCE
• IX. EFFECTIVITY/TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
16. I. RATIONALE
• united efforts of the country against COVID-19
have been instrumental in slowing the spread
of the virus and the disease
• full containment has not yet been attained
• Department of Education (DepEd) is
committed to find ways for learning
opportunities to be provided
17. • ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all:
– learners
– teachers
– personnel
• stipulated in Resolution No. 29 of the Inter-
Agency Task Force for the Management of
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), dated
April 27, 2020
18. • all decisions rests with the IATF to:
– Impose
– Lift
– Extend community quarantine
– local authorities may impose:
• enhanced community quarantine upon the
concurrence of their respective regional inter-agency
task groups
19. • The decision to:
– Impose
– Lift
– extend community quarantine
– should be based on the parameters identified in
IATF Resolution No. 19, which include:
• Trends in the COVID-19 epidemiological curve
• doubling time
• acceleration
• deceleration of new cases
20. – Capacity of the health care system which
includes
• the number and availability of:
• quarantine
• isolation
• treatment facilities
• capability to mount contact tracing
• availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to
frontliners
• testing capacity of the country
22. • Guided by:
– Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP)
– Department of Health (DOH) Guidelines on the
Risk-Based Public Health Standards for COVID-19
Mitigation (DOH Administrative Order No. 2020-
0015)
– applicable guidelines by the DOH and the IATF
– policy directives by the President
23. – DepEd adopts the Required Health Standards to be
followed in all:
• basic education schools
• community learning centers (CLCs)
• DepEd offices
• when and to the extent that:
• personnel
• Teachers
• non-teaching personnel
• learners
• will already be allowed to physically return to DepEd
schools and/or offices
24. II. SCOPE AND COVERAGE
• Required Health Standards for COVID-19 mitigation shall be
applicable to:
• DepEd Central Office (CO)
• Regional Offices (ROs)
• Division Offices (SDOs)
• Schools - all public and private elementary and secondary schools
• CLCs
• consistent with applicable guidelines from the DOH and the IATF
• the policy directives of the President
• taking into consideration:
– the socio-cultural context of their respective localities
25. III. DEFINITION OF TERMS
• operational definition of the following terms are as follows:
• a. Isolation - the separation of ill or infected persons from
others to prevent the spread of infection or contamination
• b. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) -
used to describe a range of activities that aims to
protect/promote psychosocial well-being of individuals and
communities in their affected environment and/or prevent
or treat mental disorder
• c. Most-at-risk Population (MARP) - population groups
who have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19
infection, such as individuals who are aged 60 and above,
pregnant, or have underlying conditions or comorbidity at
risk of COVID-19 exacerbation
26. • d. Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) - protective garments or
equipment worn by individuals to increase personal safety from
infectious agents
• e. Quarantine - the restriction of movement, or separation from the
rest of the population, of healthy persons who may have been
exposed to the virus, with the objective of monitoring their
symptoms and ensuring early detection of case. This covers self-
quarantine or community quarantine in this policy.
• f. Vulnerable Groups - socially disadvantaged groups that are most
susceptible to suffer directly from disasters and health events,
including senior citizens, immunocompromised individuals, women,
children, persons deprived of liberty (PDL), persons with disabilities
(PDL), members of indigenous peoples (IPs), internally displaced
persons (IDPs), and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs), among
others.
27. IV. POLICY STATEMENT
• In accordance with the principles guiding the BE-
LCP
• Establishes the DepEd Required Health Standards
to ensure the:
– protection of the health
– safety
– well-being of:
• learners
• Teachers
• Personnel
– prevent the further transmission of COVID-19
28. • This Policy facilitates the safe return of:
– Learners
– Teachers
– personnel to:
• schools/CLCs and offices
• at the time and to the extent as will be allowed
by the DOH, the IATF, or the President
• The policy is informed by relevant official
guidelines, complemented by other credible
sources, and balanced by DepEd’s own risk
assessments.
29. V. DEPED REQUIRED HEALTH
STANDARDS FRAMEWORK
• IATF released its Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of
Community Quarantine in the Philippines
• outlining the rules and guidelines for all forms of community
quarantine that may be applied in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic
• According to these guidelines: all forms of community quarantine
aimed at preventing further transmission of COVID-19 require
adherence to minimum public health standards
• In accordance with the DOH Guidelines on the Risk-Based Public
Health Standards for COVID-19 Mitigation (DOH AO No. 2020-
0015)
• consistent with the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-
LCP)
30. • the DepEd Required Health Standards
framework is mainly composed of four COVID-
19 Mitigation Objectives:
• a. Increase Physical and Mental Resilience
• b. Reduce Transmission
• c. Reduce Contact
• d. Reduce Duration of Infection
31. • Additional references consulted in the development of this
framework include the recommendations of the:
– Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• holistic approach to minimum health standards for adoption by schools
– United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization–
International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO-IIEP)
• Plan for School Reopening for key factors in guaranteeing the well-being of
learners, teachers, and staff in schools
– Johns Hopkins Public Health Principles for a Phased Reopening
During COVID-19:
• Guidance for Governors breakdown of risks involved in mass gathering,
including sports activities and other events
– UNESCO’s framework for reopening schools
32. A. Increase Physical and Mental
Resilience
• DepEd Required Health Standards aim to increase
the physical resilience of learners
• Standards include the re-establishment of
regular and safe delivery of essential school-
based services
• adapted school-based feeding
• continuous promotion of “school-life balance”
• learners’ engagement in daily physical activities
provided physical distancing is observed
33. personnel in DepEd offices shall be
encouraged to:
• engage in at least 30 minutes of daily physical activities
subject to the strict observance of physical distancing
• observe proper hygiene
• safety
• other precautionary measures
• Smoking
• drinking of alcoholic beverages shall be discouraged
• related bans strictly implemented
• priority on the protection and promotion of the
mental health and general welfare of all learners
and personnel
34. Interventions to increase mental
resilience include:
• discussion/facilitation of modules related to mental
health within the first week of return to school
• operationalization of a guidance office in every school
to provide basic mental health services to learners and
personnel
• establishment of counseling services through a
hotline/platform in SDOs
• hotline/platform for counseling services shall be
established at the:
• CO for its personnel in the CO and ROs
35. interventions for DepEd offices include
provision of:
• Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
• debriefing sessions to personnel
• promotion of “work-life balance” through proper
scheduling of activities
• rotation of workforce
36. • Appropriate support for the essential
workforce, vulnerable groups, and most-at-
risk population (MARP) learners and
personnel shall be ensured by this Policy.
37. B. Reduce Transmission
• In accordance with DOH AO No. 2020-0015,
strategies to reduce transmission in
schools/CLCs and DepEd offices include:
• sustaining appropriate information and
education campaigns on proper handwashing
and respiratory etiquette
• ensuring that symptomatic individuals be
required to stay at home and seek medical
consultation
38. • institutionalizing routine cleaning and
disinfecting of workstations and touch areas such
as:
– toilets
– door knobs
– switches
– at least once every day for workstations
– ensuring access to basic hygiene facilities
– rational use of personal protective equipment (PPEs)
such as mask
39. • In addition to the standards set in DepEd Order (DO)
No. 10, s. 2016, titled Policy and Guidelines for the
Comprehensive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in
Schools (WINS) Program
– schools/CLCs that will be allowed to deliver face-to-face
learning
– will be required to:
• conduct orientation on proper respiratory etiquette for:
– learners
– Teachers
– personnel
40. C. Reduce contact
• To reduce contact in all schools/CLCs and offices
• implementation of strict physical distancing of at least 1
meter apart in all common areas
• Travel and activities of learners and personnel shall be
limited to those most essential
• Restricted - conduct of large physical gatherings and other
activities where physical distancing may not be possible
• Online platforms for meetings, training, and conferences
shall be utilized
• DepEd DO No. 011, s. 2020has revised policy on
alternative work arrangements to minimize contact in
schools/CLCs and offices
41. In compliance with:
• IATF Omnibus Guidelines on the
Implementation of Community Quarantine in
the Philippines
• CSC Memorandum Circular No. 10, s. 2020
Revised Interim Guidelines for Alternative
Work Arrangements and Support Mechanisms
for Workers in the Government During the
Period of State of National Emergency Due to
COVID-19 Pandemic
42. D. Reduce duration of infection
• To reduce the duration of infection of COVID-19
• early detection
• isolation of symptomatic individuals
• DepEd Memorandum (DM) No. 15, s. 2020 (First Set
of Policy Directives of the DepEd Task Force nCoV)
• Preventive Alert System in Schools (PASS) shall
continue its operation to be able to identify possible
cases
43. • Part of the procedure is the:
– daily health inspection to detect symptoms of
infection
• Schools/CLCs and DepEd offices shall ensure:
– the establishment/setting-up/refurbishment of
their own clinics
44. To be used for:
• health assessment
– provision of appropriate interventions such as:
• first aid
• treatment
• proper management of symptoms of:
– learners
– Teachers
– Personnel
– visitors
45. Clinics shall ensure the
provision of:
• referral services
–follow up of status of:
• learners
•teachers
•personnel
47. VII. SUPPORT MECHANISMS FOR THE
DEPED REQUIRED HEALTH STANDARDS
• A. Continuation of DepEd Task Force COVID-19
• DM No. 11, s. 2020 The DepEd Task Force COVID-19
– shall continue to lead the overall efforts of the Department
in addressing the challenges of COVID-19 through:
• policy recommendations
• strategy development
• monitoring of compliance by all schools/CLCs and DepEd offices to
the:
• DepEd Required Health Standards
• DOH guidelines
• other relevant policy directives in relation to COVID-19
• performance of other functions and activities as may be necessary to carry
out their mandate
48. Internal Situation Reports
• The DepEd Task Force COVID-19 prepares
regular internal situation reports containing
updated statistics of infected persons
nationally
• latest action/s taken by DepEd in support of
COVID-19 mitigation
• latest relevant issuance/s
• to keep the concerned DepEd officers
adequately informed during the pandemic
49. • Communications Plan
• in this time of uncertainty DepEd places great emphasis on:
• importance of maintaining clear communications
• consultation
• coordination
– with:
• learners
• teachers
• personnel
• parents
• other education stakeholders
50. • close coordination with national government
media channels such as the:
– Presidential Communications Operations Office
(PCOO)
– DOH
– IATF
– will be done to ensure the dissemination of
truthful and accurate information to all
stakeholders
51. • New media channels across various online
platforms such as:
– social media
– streaming services
– shall be strengthened for quick and wide
dissemination of policies and announcements
– Environment scanning for the collection of inputs
from stakeholders will also be conducted to help
in informing policy decisions
52. Public Affairs Service (PAS) will work
closely with the:
– DepEd Task Force COVID-19
– Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service
(DRRMS)
– Quick Response and Recovery Team (QRRT)
– Bureau of Learner Support Services-School Health
Division (BLSS-SHD)
– other DepEd units in the dissemination of:
• preventive
• safety information
• support
• response
53. VIII. BUDGET AND FINANCE
• Funding requirements to implement the
provisions set forth in this policy guidelines shall
be charged to:
• available funds in the CO
• ROs
• SDOs
• schools/CLCs
• under the General Appropriations Act (GAA)
• other sources of funds as a result of:
– partnerships with the LGUs
– private sector
– non-government organizations.
54. – All cost implications should be ranked according to
the priority needs of the offices and schools
– Utilization of funds for this purpose shall be
subject to applicable procurement, accounting,
and auditing rules and regulations