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MANILA – The chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture on Wednesday opposed the proposal to hold pilot face-to-face (F2F) classes in low-risk areas next month without the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination program.
In a media forum, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo said face-to-face classes in the National Capital Region (NCR) and other urban areas must not be allowed sans the Covid-19 vaccine, especially since most Department of Education (DepEd) schools in said areas are located in densely-populated places.
Romulo argued that such places make it difficult to implement minimum health standards such as physical distancing.
“‘Pag pinag-usapan natin ang urban areas at NCR, sigurado ko po hindi talaga pwede magkaroon ng pilot face-to-face. ‘Yung mga pini-prisenta po, lalo na ‘yung mga studies na pinapakita nila sa ibang bansa, tingin ko po hindi tutugma o sasang-ayon dito sa ating bansa (If we talk about urban areas and NCR, I assure you that there shouldn’t be pilot face-to-face. Studies that are being presented showing its impact in other countries wouldn’t really fit the situation in our country),” Romulo said.
As for rural areas, Romulo said the DepEd, Department of Health (DOH) and local government units (LGUs) should make the necessary preparations and coordination in accordance with available data and the actual situation.
“Kailangan po eh ano ang contingency plans nila ‘pag nagsimula na ang pilot face-to-face doon na masusunod ang minimum health protocols (There should be contingency plans if the pilot face-to-face [classes] start there wherein minimum health protocols will be implemented),” Roman said.
He urged the DepEd to be more flexible in the delivery of education as several challenges still hound distance and blended learning.
“Dapat dito, flexible enough tayo. Let us see the reality. Siguraduhin natin na very focused na and targeted ‘yung gusto nating matutunan ng ating mga mag-aaral (We should be flexible enough here. Let us see the reality. We need to make sure that the lessons we instill in our students should be very focused and targeted),” he said.
He said DepEd should provide bridging programs and identify learning competencies of students that need to be addressed when the country returns to having face-to-face classes.
In a Palace press briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte has made known his decision to reject in-person classes until after the vaccination program starts.
However, he said Duterte expressed openness to hold F2F classes after a small portion of the population has been inoculated with vaccines.
Roque said Duterte personally relayed his preference to hold pilot in-person classes only after the country has established enough confidence six months into the vaccination program.
Last month, Duterte allowed the resumption of F2F classes for medical and allied health programs in higher education institutions in areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ areas.
Roque said this move is to ensure that the country will have enough doctors amid the prevailing pandemic.
Duterte last December approved the proposal of the DepEd to hold a dry run of F2F classes in select schools in areas with a low-risk of infection.
He eventually withdrew the plan after a new strain of Covid-19, which is allegedly more infectious, has been detected in the United Kingdom (UK) and has already been reported in other neighboring countries, including the Philippines. (PNA)
