INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Provincial Board here is requesting the Department of Education (DepEd) to review its guidelines and policies for the resumption of face-to-face classes.
The Capitol’s legislative body recently passed a resolution, asking DepEd to “recalibrate the existing guidelines for the conduct of face-to-face classes into a simplified, practicable, and reasonable one, tailored for the progressive expansion of in-person learning.”
It was authored by 3rd District Board Member and lawyer John Ismael Borgonia.
Borgonia, in a phone interview with reporters, suggested for the national government to implement ‘simplified, practical and reasonable’ guidelines for face-to-face classes.
The legislator said some of the measures to be implemented during in-person classes may no longer be applicable in the present, and that these may only serve as additional burdens on the part of the teachers, students, and parents.
Among those he cited as examples were the need for social distancing, plastic barriers, and the wearing of face shields in the classroom.
“Mag social distancing diha sa classroom lagyo kaayo sila, pero inig gawas sa skwelahan mag tapok, mag-uban ra gihapon mag sakay og tricycle, mag sakay og sakyanan,” explained Borgonia.
(They have to follow social distancing but when they go out of the school, they still huddle, they still go together inside a tricycle or when they ride a vehicle.)
“Usa pa sad na ang kanang mga dagko kaayong glass or plastic barriers nga dili angay… Mao na akong giingon nga makadugang sa gasto, either sa ginikanan or sa mga teachers,” he added.
(One more thing, those huge glass or plastic barriers aren’t that useful. Those will just add to the expenses of either the parents or the teachers.)
Over 3,500 schools in Central Visayas, where Cebu province belongs, are set to go back to the traditional style of teaching this August, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to implement distant learning.
DepEd has earlier announced that the school year 2022 to 2023 will begin this August 22, 2022.
/bmjo
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