Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — Teachers and schools support the government’s proposal to fully resume face-to-face classes by November this year, with recommendations to better protect students from health risks amid the pandemic.
Teachers’ Dignity Coalition National Chairperson Benjo Basas told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Wednesday that the education sector has been waiting for the full conduct of in-person classes for years, but the Department of Education now led by Vice President Sara Duterte should further assess the readiness of students to return to school.
“Sa tingin namin, kailangan matiyak na ang mga bata ay hindi magsisiksikan sa school. Baka congested ang ating classrooms,” he said. “Tingin namin at least 25 per class at ang teacher po natin talagang madadagdag ang teaching load or maghire ng addtional teachers to cater to these adjustments.”
[Translation: We think that it needs to be ensured that students will not be crowding in schools. The classrooms might be congested. We think at least 25 students per class will do and the teacher may have to increase his or her teaching load, or the school might have to hire additional teachers to cater to these adjustments.]
Basas also suggested to lessen the instructional time for each class, and allow for the conduct of two to four sessions per class in a day to accommodate more students.
“Ngayon, maraming ‘di nakakapasok physically. Although maraming mga batang nagpaparticipate sa face-to-face, iilan lang ang sumasali,” he said.
[Translation: Right now, so many could not go to school physically. Although there are students who participate in the face-to-face classes, not everyone joins in.]
Late last year, the DepEd under former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration began allowing select schools to hold limited face-to-face classes where only vaccinated students and teachers may participate.
The implementation has progressively been expanded, and as of June, around 32,000 public schools have started holding physical classes. In contrast, a little over 1,000 private schools have followed suit.
The Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA) has already appealed to Vice President Duterte to grant more flexibility to schools to either hold 100% in-person classes, hybrid classes, or even full online classes.
Lawmakers like Sen. Joel Villanueva and Nancy Binay are also in favor of the full implementation, but called on the government to provide boosters to teachers, students and support staff, ensure proper ventilation in classrooms, as well as the necessary testing protocols.
“DepEd must see to it that our teachers and students have the necessary support from the government in terms of testing, na ‘pag may (and if there are) suspected cases or symptoms sa school, free testing and treatment are extended to them,” Binay added.
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