Things are "so far, so good" for the public schools that reopened on Monday for limited face-to-face classes, according to an official from the Department of Education (DepEd).
"So far, so good 'yung feedback ng ating field monitoring ng ating pagbubukas ng klase, excited po ang parents at saka 'yung ating mga chikiting na bumabalik sa paaralan," said Roger Masapol, DepEd's director for planning service, in an interview with DZRH.
(Our field monitoring’s feedback said the reopening of classes are so far, so good. Parents and kids are excited to come back to school.)
In-person classes launched on Monday for public school students in kindergarten to third grade across the Philippines, with selected private schools to follow with the reopening on November 22.
But Masapol clarified that the government is carrying out a "blended" mode of classes, with face-to-face and distance learning alternating every week.
"Blended po siya kasi for example this week, face to face sila, the other week, mag-distance sila, and then balik sila sa face to face the following week," the official explained.
(This is blended because for example this week, they will be holding face to face, the other week, they will hold distance, and then they will return to face to face the following week.)
DepEd adjusted the class schedule of schools to carry out the pilot of the blended learning system, while class sizes were reduced to ensure that social distancing can be observed.
To further ensure the protection of participants of in-person classes, teachers who are not yet vaccinated for COVID-19 will continue distance learning, while vaccinated teachers are the ones sent for face-to-face classes.
Masapol said DepEd is already holding talks with unvaccinated teachers to ensure that their reasons for not getting the jabs are valid and not based on fake news.
According to Masapol, the department will use the pilot run of in-person classes to see if it is effective before expansion.
Earlier, DepEd issued a statement welcoming the participating students, teachers, and personnel in the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes.
"We are happy to see our learners inside our classrooms as we recognize the significance of face-to-face learning in their social development. In the coming weeks, more learners in public and private schools will follow suit as the President approved to increase the number of pilot participants," said DepEd in a statement.
But it also appealed to the public for the continuous observance of minimum public health standards.
"In this line, we appeal to the public to always follow the required health protocols and standards. With everyone's help in improving our country's COVID-19 situation, our vision to safely reopen more schools nationwide is not a far reality," it said.
