Uniforms in public schools not required, says DepEd Ozamiz

As announced by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, students in the public schools are not required to wear school uniforms this year as a way to ease the financial burden of parents.

Ozamiz City Division Schools Division Superintendent Jean G. Veloso said wearing school uniforms was not even required during the pre-pandemic period.

“The wearing of a school uniform shall not be required in public schools. Students with existing uniforms may continue using their uniforms, if they so desire, to avoid incurring additional costs for new attire. With or without uniform as long as ang bata mo eskwela, nagsinina ug tarong nga pang-eskwela, limpyo lang ang sinina so dawaton sa eskwelahan ug dili requirement ang uniform,” she said.

(With or without uniform as long as your child goes to school, he/ she is dressed properly for school they will be accepted so uniform is not a requirement)

She added that the secretary insisted that DepEd will be more considerate of this as the country continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.

Veloso also explained there were learning losses in the last two years because they were using various modalities such as module based, online, TV and radio. In the end, face to face learning still produces quality of learning, she said.

"Dako gyud ug deperensya, and yes we admit nga naa gyud siya’y learning losses or learning gap sa time nga ang mga bata dili maka-adto sa eskwelahan pero ang atong gitan-aw karon unsaon pag bridge ang gap mao nang naa ta’y gibuhat para katong mga learning losses ma bridge to siya and at the same time naningkamot ta nga safe ang school ug safe tanan para padayon ang face to face classes nga atong gi-tuohan nga mas better ang quality of learning,” Veloso said.

(There is a big difference, and yes we admit that there is really a learning losses or learning gap at the time when the children can't go to school but what we are looking at now is how to bridge the gap so we are doing something so that those learning losses can be bridged and at the same time we are trying that the school is safe and everyone is safe so that face to face classes continue which we believe will improve the quality of learning)

As to safety protocols, DepEd Ozamiz City continues to implement minimum health public standards among the students and school heads, personnel and students. (SMRN/PIA-10/Misamis Occidental)