Return to school in region 7: Smooth and orderly

CEBU, Philippines —  The return to campus of elementary and high school students in Region 7 on Monday, August 22, 2022, was smooth and orderly, the Department of Education (DepEd)-7 said.

DepEd-7 Director Salustiano Jimenez said majority of the schools in Central Visayas will adopt full face-to-face classes five days a week.

“Especially in areas… kadtong mga schools nga naa sa bukid, five days in a week gyud sila moadto sa school while some whole day naa sad uban shifting, morning and afternoon,” Jimenez said.

Schools with a big population, in particular, are adopting blended learning, mostly modular and face-to-face modalities.

As of Day 1 of the new academic year, at least 1.9 students have enrolled in both elementary and high school in public and private schools in Region 7.

“We expect nga moabot gyud na siya og 2 million kay naa pay mga 100 schools nga wala pa naka-submit sa ilang list of enrollees,” Jimenez said.

Cebu City classrooms

In Cebu City, at least 746 classrooms have yet to be repaired following the damage incurred during Typhoon Odette in December 2021.

Face-to-face classes in these schools are, therefore, still limited, said Dr. Bernadette Susvilla, assistant superintendent of DepEd Cebu City Division.

“Limited face-to-face pa gyud ang atong gigamit tungod duna man tay mga classrooms nga under repair nga di pa gyud siya magamit,” she said during a visit to one of the schools at the start of classes.

DepEd-Cebu City is calling for help from stakeholders. The Local School Board and some private companies and civic-oriented groups have helped fix some classrooms but work is still needed in many other rooms.

Earlier, Jimenez said there are still a thousand classrooms in different schools in Region 7 that need repair, majority of which are in Cebu City.

Still, to facilitate the start of a new school year, classes in schools with damaged classrooms are carried out by batch or shifts.

“Ang mga bata dunay batches, batch 1, batch 2, shift, single shift, double shift, three shifts or a combination of single ang double,” Susvilla said.

Lessons are also facilitated through blended learning, which can be a combination of physical classes and modules or online learning or radio and television, if available.

”So ang gigamit sa mga maestra karon blended modality lang sa,” Susvilla said.

DILG

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and its attached agencies and local government units are supporting DepEd in ensuring the smooth implementation of Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) for School Year 2022-2023.

“The DILG and our partner LGUs are one with Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Z. Duterte’s efforts to improve the quality of education and address the current challenges of basic education in the new normal,” the agency said. – Caecent No-ot Magsumbol and Decemay P. Padilla, JMO (FREEMAN)