BY GLENDA TAYONA and IME SORNITO
ILOILO City – The government is keen on pushing back the resumption of in-person classes for school year 2022-2023 from August to November, with local government units stepping up the vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and particularly the dispensation of booster shots.
According to Mayor Jerry Treñas who attended a meeting of mayors and governors in Malacañang on July 8 called by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the national government wanted a “100 percent” return to face-to-face classes.
Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), attended the meeting and expressed the desire to have the class opening in November to give teachers and local governments enough time to make schools a safe environment for students, said Treñas.
DepEd has actually not issued a department order on the official school calendar for school year 2022-2023, but the previous DepEd leadership had proposed that classes resume on Aug. 22.
Concomitant to the full face-to-face classes is the need to widen COVID-19 booster shot coverage, stressed Treñas.
The Food and Drug Administration already earlier granted Emergency Use Authorization to COVID-19 booster shots for the pediatric population (12 to 17 years old) which can be administered five months after the second primary COVID-19 dose.
In this city, said Treñas, said the city government will coordinate with schools for the COVID-19 booster shots of students.
The vaccination can be done in schools, he added.
Treñas emphasized the importance of having additional protection against COVID-19 through booster shots.
“We want our students be protected against the coronavirus once they go back to school,” he said.
Under DepEd Order No. 29, series of 21, school year 2021-2022 should have ended on June 24, but teachers still had to organize end-of-school-year rites until July. They also have to conduct remedial and enrichment classes for students who received failing grades this month.
Should schools reopen on Aug. 22, teachers would have very little time to rest and to prepare their classrooms for school year 2022-2023.
DepEd Region 6 has no problem with a November opening of classes, according to its information officer Hernani Escullar Jr.
They look forward to receiving directives from their central office regarding this, he added.
Escullar said it is important for every school to meet the parameters earlier set by DepEd and the Department of Health in a joint circular regarding face-to-face classes.
Among these are the concurrence of the local government unit; parents’ consent; and contingency or emergency plan of the school.
According to Escullar, DepEd-6’s Quality Planning and Research Division is actually already going around inspecting schools’ readiness for the opening of school year 2022-2023.
Meanwhile, ACT Teachers party-list’s Rep. France Castro said she will file a resolution this week providing for a supplemental budget for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of schools for them to sufficiently prepare for the resumption of full face-to-face classes.
“The past administration failed to provide adequate funding to the Department of Education to prepare the schools for full in-person classes. It is only just to provide our schools, teachers, and education support personnel adequate resources for the preparation of full in-person classes,” said Castro.
“A maximum of 35 students per class as the ideal class size should also be implemented for schools to have better airflow in classrooms. This means additional teachers should also be employed to be able to cater to more sections. Safe schools also mean that there should be nurses and adequate utility personnel in every school and health protection and benefits for teachers and non-teaching staff must be in place,” Castro added./PN
