The Covid-19 pandemic struck the entire world that it crippled the different sectors of society. This includes the education sector of the country. Issues in teaching and learning arose as the country struggled with the drastic adjustment to cater the needs of the Filipino learners. However, Filipinos might be seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel of distance learning.
On September 21, 2021, the Department of Education released on their official website that 100 public schools and 20 private schools in areas with minimal-risk of Covid-19 are set to participate in the pilot limited face-to-face classes. This is inline with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s approval to the proposal of the implementation of pilot face-to-face classes on the selected schools.
However, even if the risk is minimal in the selected areas where the pilot limited face-to-face classes will be conducted, the risk is still not zero. This still makes the public anxious and skeptical with the idea of conducting face-to-face classes.
As part of the continuous campaign against Covid-19, the vaccination roll-out for minors has been started. It was mentioned in the recent article written by Lade Jean Kabagani of the Philippine News Agency (2021), that the Department of Health (DOH) stated that the vaccination of Filipinos aged 15 to 17 will be conducted first to be followed by those who are in the 12 to 14 age group.
In conjunction with this, several Local Government Units (LGUs) already began the pre-registration for minors aged 12 to 17. LGUs announced the said pre-registration on their official Facebook pages. Some of these LGUs were the city governments of Taguig, Caloocan, Manila, Pateros. Soon, all LGUs will also be completing the vaccination roll-out for adolescents and children.
Barangay San Carlos, in the Municipality of Mariveles, Bataan, also announced the start of their vaccination for adolescents aged 12-17 years old. San Carlos Barangay Captain Ivan Ricafrente headed a meeting with the San Carlos CoVax Team and the Barangay Health Board in preparation for the said vaccination program. This was announced on the Barangay San Carlos – Mariveles, Bataan official Facebook page.
These might be small steps towards having Filipino students back in their classrooms. However, a step, no matter how small it is, is always a movement. It may still be a long journey for Philippine Education to bounce back from the struggles brought by the pandemic but as long as we keep moving forward, we will definitely get there.
References:
De Leon, D. (2021) Some LGUs open COVID-19 vaccine pre-registration to minors aged 12 to 17. retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/lgus-open-covid-19-vaccine-pre-registration-minors-age-12-17-years-old
By: Abelardo Y. Viter Jr.
