CLOSE to 400 more schools in Central Visayas have started holding limited face-to-face classes, and more are expected to follow suit, the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd 7) said.From only 10 public schools last year, Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, DepEd 7 director, said there are now 377 public and private schools that started the progressive implementation of limited face-to-face classes since January this year.While this is only 9.4 percent of around 4,000 public and private schools in the region, Jimenez said that as of March 18, 2022, 783 schools, including those that already started, have expressed their intent to go back to the classrooms as others begin preparations to hold limited face-to-face classes.Jimenez said a school can start holding limited face-to-face classes as soon as it receives the safety seal from DepEd.The limited face-to-face setup is a combination of face-to-face classes and distance learning since classrooms could not be used at full capacity.Of the 377 schools that are already holding limited face-to-face classes, around 300 are in Cebu Province.Jimenez could not provide yet a breakdown of the number of private schools and public schools that are implementing limited face-to-face classes, and how many of these are elementary schools and high schools.Jimenez said there are around 15 to 20 private schools from the 20 schools divisions in the region that have expressed their interest to start.In Mandaue City, only two private schools have so far applied to start holding limited face-to-face classes.The Cebu City Schools Division endorsed to the regional office the application of 13 schools in Cebu City that plan to start limited face-to-face classes. Jimenez said he expects the number to increase after Cebu City was placed under Alert Level 1 status.There are around 3,000 public schools and around 1,000 private elementary schools in Central Visayas.Meanwhile, Jimenez said only about 4.59 percent or 3,600 teaching and non-teaching personnel remain unvaccinated against the coronavrius disease (Covid-19) in public grade schools in the region.Of the number, two percent are just waiting for their vaccination schedule while the rest expressed no interest in getting their jabs for personal reasons.As part of their vaccination campaign, Jimenez disclosed that they will be giving prizes to schools divisions that can achieve 100 percent vaccination rate among their personnel.He said he was happy that the Cebu Provincial Schools Division already achieved 96.1 percent vaccination rate while Siquijor has only 22 teachers who remain unvaccinated.Jimenez earlier said that unvaccinated public school teachers will not be able to teach in classrooms when their schools start limited face-to-face classes. There are about 77,000 public school teachers in the region.