Employee and Learner Assistance
Employee and Learner Assistance
1. Physical and Mental Resilience
a. Regular screening and testing
As part of the school’s preventive and protective measures, screening and testing protocols as stipulated in the school’s program for prevention and control of COVID 19 will be implemented. In addition, teachers and personnel who are identified to be in close contact with the learners are required to undergo RT-PCR testing/saliva test on a regular basis.
b. Vaccination
The school will continue to promote and facilitate the conduct of vaccination. Teachers and employees who do not want to be vaccinated will shoulder their own regular RT-PCR/saliva test. Implementation of routine school-based vaccination and health check will be done.
c. Covid – 19 Case Management (When confirmed case in the department or class bubble is detected)
In case of a confirmed case in the department/office, the following will be done by the school through the help of the RCTF and the department heads of the concerned offices:
● Contact tracing (Close Contact: distance of 6 feet and below, closed area, more than 15 minutes)
● Possible adoption of flexible work arrangement for affected personnel in the office or department
● Information dissemination to the family of the learner by the Health Services
● Isolation advice and monitoring
● Disinfection and enhanced cleaning
● Possibility of lockdown depending on affected area
● Close coordination and communication with LGU contact tracing team
● Necessary assistance is given to the personnel and learner by the health care worker.
● Strict compliance of those diagnosed with COVID-19 on returning to school only upon clearance from medical authorities is to be observed.
● Screening of returning personnel and learners after isolation and quarantine will be strictly implemented.
● Implementation of the Return to school/work policies as stated in Section III.7(Health and Safety Guidelines: Contact Tracing, Isolation and Quarantine Procedures)
● Assistance from the Health Services Department (Refer to the Appendix 1 for the specific steps set by the Health Services Department in addressing the health concerns)
2. Psychosocial support shall be provided to students and employees as stipulated in the programs of the school’s Guidance Center and Wellness and Home Study Office.
a. The Guidance Center will primarily be the source of psychosocial support of learners, teachers and school personnel. Additional psychosocial support in the form of counseling by Dr. Maricar Fajardo, psychologist, is to be provided to those in need following the procedure given by the Wellness and Home Study Office. (For the details of these
programs, please refer to the services offered by the Guidance and Wellness offices.)
b. The Alternative Learning System (ALS) of CSA is an alternative educational accommodation program which is open to all students who have mental and emotional wellness conditions (except Schizophrenia). Moreover, ALS is a mental and emotional wellness support service that ensures to accommodate, assist, and guide those students who need flexible learning options because of their mental and emotional wellness conditions. ALS is an alternate or substitute which includes both the non-formal and informal sources of knowledge and skills (Department of Education Order 27, S. 2018). ALS is also different from the Hybrid Learning Model of CSA in terms of the level of difficulty of the modules’ contents and learning exercises. This is because ALS takes into consideration the cognitive and emotional wellness appraisals of the students. Therefore, there will be more flexible online options for learning instructions/materials, assessments, consultation, deadlines, counseling, and spiritual advising in the Alternative Learning System. Nonetheless, the topics in the curriculum mandated by DepEd are all covered in the program; thus, the content that should be learned by the students in all subjects will not be compromised. In line with the pilot testing, students in this program, Grade 12 in particular, may opt for face to face with the teacher as per request and with consent of the parents.
c. All of the following shall be provided as needed: preparation for counseling, walk-in counseling and intake interviews. A guidance counselor will be available onsite to meet all of these needs of the learners and also to provide psychosocial support to the personnel. All other guidance services will continue to be given online.
d. Class advisers continue with their socio-emotional learning (SEL) modules, kumustahan, and COVID-19 awareness and preventive measures during the opening exercises.
e. Home-school partnership is to be observed at all times. Regular coordination with the parents of those affected will be done and their support will be sought.
3. Personal Protective Equipment
The school shall secure sufficient supply of face masks and face shields, sanitation and disinfection materials. All these that are secured by the school must be compliant with FDA and DOH standards.
4. Hybrid Work Arrangement (especially for Most-at-Risk Employees) Hybrid work arrangement for employees, meaning a mix of work-from home arrangement and onsite reporting, shall be implemented. a. Onsite and offsite work schedules of personnel for each
department/office shall be determined by their heads with the approval of their immediate director and the school rector. However, it is expected that all school offices shall be open for onsite and offsite transactions to make sure that school operations are not disrupted and the essential services are delivered.
b. Reporting of academic heads, middle administrators and teachers shall be based on the provisions in the teaching learning setup. (Refer to HLP 3.0)
c. Other school personnel supporting the conduct of teaching and learning, both remote and in-person, shall be available to provide services as needed.
d. Most-at-risk employees (MARE) for COVID-19 (e.g. senior citizens, pregnant women, individuals with underlying health conditions) are recommended to continue to observe work-from-home arrangements. However, when needed and indispensable, they are to provide a certificate of fit to work which is secured from a specialist or physician of the school’s HMO provider, not a general practitioner, and must stay in the workplace only for a specified number of hours. They shall limit physical contact inside the premises. The school may also ask them to perform tasks full time onsite, if need be. Safety protocols will be observed.
e. No work, no pay will be applied to eligible personnel (no comorbidity and fully vaccinated) who will decline participation for face to face classes.
f. On partial return to campus of students:
■ Non-teaching personnel are to return to on-site reporting as needed.
■ As for teachers, department heads are to make an early consultation with teachers regarding their willingness to be assigned in class bubbles.
➢ Subject areas and grade levels will be the first criteria.
➢ Priority will be given to those 20 to 40 years of age without comorbidity.
➢ Accessibility to the workplace and proximity are to be considered.
g. As a consideration for the Hybrid School, the computation of the teaching load of teachers at least for this arrangement, shall be lesser than the school mandated 18-20 units. Daily reporting to school and preparation for dual modality are major considerations.
h. On quarantine directive due to work-related reasons, alternative work arrangement may be adopted.
5. Transportation and Accommodation
While adhering to the limit set on the number of persons in a vehicle, private car-pooling and school transport service pick-up point setup are to assist the personnel who are required to report onsite. Employees with private vehicles or living near the school vicinity will be in the priority list of those who will be asked to report onsite. Stay-in accommodation shall be an option for the employees depending on the availability of school lodging spaces.
6. Teacher and staff training
a. Orientation on alternative work arrangement during a return to campus scenario
b. Literacy pep talk will be given to those who are not in favor of vaccination
c. Provisions for assistance for personnel training especially on compliance to and implementation of health and safety standards. d. Conduct of simulation activities among school personnel regarding protocols and routines to replicate and discuss possible scenarios during the actual conduct of face-to-face classes
e. Provisions for teacher training to provide them new skills and capacities as they
adapt to new demands to support students