Cebu City begins assessing schools in upland brgys for face-to-face classes

Pupils in Basak Elementary School in Samboan town in southern Cebu return to their school as limited face-to-face classes resume on November 15, 2021. | Photos from Samboan LGU

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu City Government has begun assessing schools in the mountain barangays for the eventual resumption of face-to-face classes.

Councilor Joel Garganera, chief of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said the inspection is part of the city’s preparations for the return of in-person classes.

Garganera said they will first conduct ocular inspection of schools in hinterland villages due to low transmission of COVID-19 there.

“We have identified katong mga far flung areas ilabi na sa Lusaran, sa Mangabon. Naa nami nakit-an sad nga diin ang ilahang mga maestra diha ra sad sa maong lugar nagpuyo, ang mag estudyante walking distance ra,” said Garganera.

“In fact, ang tanang kabukiran nato ilabi na katong naa na gyud sa border sa pikas nga LGU (local government unit), they are all qualified, so ubay-ubay gyud ni siya,” he added.

The EOC head, however, clarified that public schools in the urban barangays will also be inspected in the coming days.

“Ang atong low land barangays dinhi sa Cebu City, daghan pa ug kaso,” added Garganera.

Cebu City, now under a more relaxed Alert Level 2, continues to enjoy a downtrend in the number of daily COVID-19 cases.

The city has also started vaccinating children ages five to 17 years old.

The ongoing pediatric vaccination is one of the factors being considered by the Department of Education (DepEd) in allowing schools to return to the traditional style of teaching.

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/ dcb