MANILA (UPDATE) — The physical distancing rule may be relaxed in schools holding limited in-person classes under the lowest COVID-19 alert level, a move that would allow more students to attend classroom sessions, the Department of Education said Monday.

The Department of Health has advised DepEd that it could relax the distancing protocol in schools under Alert Level 1, said Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan.

"Ngayon kasi may limitasyon tayo sa [kung] ilang mag-aaral ang maaaring i-accommodate sa isang silid-aralan para ma-observe 'yong physical distancing requirement," Malaluan said in a televised public briefing.

(Right now we have a limitation on the number of students that we can accommodate in a classroom to observe the physical distancing requirement.)

"Sa pagpasok ng bagong school year, ang protocol na ipinaabot sa atin ng Department of Health, maaaring i-relax na 'yong physical distancing kung Alert Level 1," he said.

(When the new school year begins, the protocol that the Department of Health relayed to us is that we can relax physical distancing if a school is under Alert Level 1.)

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Malaluan said the DepEd was in the process of crafting guidelines for learning delivery in the next school year, which would also determine how blended learning would be implemented.

"The extent [of blended learning] will be contained in the guidelines. In other words, how many days will be on face-to-face and how many will be allowed for remote learning, as a combination," he explained.

Should a potential surge in COVID-19 cases prompt the government to raise the alert level in certain areas, schools are already familiar with the various protocols, Malaluan said.

Only schools under Alert Levels 1 and 2 are allowed to hold physical classes in basic education.

"It really works like our storm signal... Alam na ng ating paaralan ang protocols for each of these alert levels," he said.

(It really works like our storm signals because... our schools know the protocols for each of these alert levels.)

As of June 16, 32,787 or 72.66 percent of public schools in the country have started conducting face-to-face classes, according to DepEd data.

Meanwhile, 1,063 private schools are implementing in-person classes, equivalent to only 8.60 percent of the total number, DepEd data showed.

The DepEd is eyeing for all schools to hold limited in-person classes during School Year 2022-2023, tentatively scheduled to begin on Aug. 22.

• Aug. 22 opening, 'more face-to-face classes' eyed for SY 2022-2023
• DepEd expects all schools to hold face-to-face classes in SY 2022-2023