F2F SCHOOLING. A staff of the United Nations Children’s Fund speaks Monday (June 6, 2022) to one of the pupils in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), who expressed mixed feelings about returning to school in August this year. Currently, the BARMM is implementing limited face-to-face classes in 120 of its 1,200 public schools across the region. (Photo courtesy of UNICEF)
COTABATO CITY – Policies governing the resumption of face-to-face (F2F) classes are being hammered out, while financial assistance is being eyed for some 1,200 Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) schools for sanitation purposes.
These are some preparations for the resumption of face-to-face (F2F) classes for the school year 2022-2023 in August, Alfadhar Pajiji, BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) assistant secretary, said Monday.
Pajiji, who is also the focal person for F2F implementation, said teachers and pupils in public schools have shown "interest and excitement for the resumption of normalcy” in the BARMM educational system.
BARMM opened limited F2F classes to some 120 schools in the region during the current school year.
Pajiji said MBHTE and representatives from the Ministry of Health and other partner regional agencies have been meeting regularly to refine policies that will govern the restoration of in-person classes.
MBHTE is coming out with an Inter-Ministry memorandum circular on the implementation of F2F learning in the region.
“This aims to give public schools to come up with fast and efficient processes as they prepare for the resumption of in-person classes,” he said.
He said MBHTE is working closely with the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) for financial assistance to some 1,200 public schools to fund health and sanitation facilities as well as important supplies to ensure school children are safe in their classrooms.
Hadja Sittie L. Bashir, an elementary teacher in Maguindanao, said children she spoke to "are so excited to see their classmates and teachers" after two years of staying home due to the pandemic.
“It has been a long time since we, teachers, and our pupils have not seen each other due to the pandemic,” she said.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) is helping BARMM and MBHTE normalize classes across the region.
In a statement Monday, UNICEF quoted fourth-grader April Jane as saying that she missed waking up early for school.
“I’m happy to go to our school with my friends and have our teachers welcome us,” she said.
Another pupil, an 11-year-old named King, also told the UNICEF that when he first found out about school reopening, he felt excited and shy because it had been years since he was around children his age.
However, upon seeing his friends and classmates, he said he immediately felt at ease.
“I always raise my hand to recite and answer my teacher’s questions. Modules could get boring because I’m the only one who answers,” he told a UNICEF staff. (PNA)
