Students shared just one face mask in Daet barangay graduation program

The Department of Education is looking into an alleged health protocol breach in Daet, Camarines Norte involving students made to share a single face mask in a makeshift graduation ceremony.

In a statement posted on Wednesday, the DepEd said it has already started its fact-finding investigation through a division investigation committee from the DepEd Region V and has coordinated with the local government units in resolving the incident "at the soonest possible time."

Over the weekend, a Facebook video went viral for showing what looked like a graduation ceremony in a shed in Barangay Dogongan with children being made to share the same face mask as they take turns posing for a graduation photo.

The video, initially shared then deleted by a certain Teddy Aguirre, spread to various Facebook groups, eliciting criticisms from various netizens. A woman can be seen in the video assisting students as they held their certificates one by one, and as the graduation march song played. One student can even be seen removing her toga and handing it over to the next ones in line for the photo.

A tarpaulin was posted as backdrop of the ceremony, which read: "Daet North District, Dogongan Elementary School, 58th Graduation Exercise."

"We have also asked the person involved in the breach to submit a written explanation while the local DepEd COVID-19 Task Force will actively monitor the health of the learners concerned through the regional office," the department said.

"We would like to reiterate that graduation and moving up rites that require face-to-face interaction are postponed until further notice," the DepEd added. "Schools and community learning centers are highly encouraged to conduct virtual rites and other alternative non face-to-face activities to celebrate the end of the school year."

In a statement on Wednesday, DepEd Region V bared that the school already had a virtual graduation prior to the incident, and the activity was supposedly only for the distribution of school records and certificates of the students. It added that the activity only proceeded upon the request of the parents of the four students seen in the video.

"On the possible administrative offense, DepEd-Camarines Norte will not hesitate to impose appropriate sanction to anyone in our ranks, if found guilty after observance of proper administrative due process," it added.

The DepEd reiterated that activities requiring face-to-face interaction that are allowed by their agency and the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force may be conducted only if the necessary health and safety precautions are strictly complied with, subject to protocols set for the community quarantine classification of each locality.

The department added that it will continue to hold seminars for teachers and stakeholders on preventive and precautionary measures to be observed and in schools and offices. (Content and photo reposted from CNN)