Students are ‘strongest’ backers of face-to-face classes resumption, says DepEd

MANILA, Philippines — Students themselves are the “strongest” supporters of resumption of face-to-face classes, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones said Thursday.

“Sa paningin ko, this is personal on my part, pero medyo na-confirm sa aming survey ng more than a million participants na ang pinakamalakas, matindi na supporter ng face-to-face [classes] ay ang mga learners themselves,” Briones said in an online Palace briefing.

(I think this is personal on my part, but we confirmed through our survey of more than a million participants that the strongest supporters of face-to-face classes are learners themselves.)

“Sila ang nami-miss ang teacher, miss nila ang classmate nila, miss nila ang school at ako nakakatanggap ako ng feedback na ang mga bata, gusto nila talaga na teacher ang magturo sa kanila. Gusto nila yung atmosphere ng school,” she added.

(They miss their teachers, they miss their classmates, they miss the school and I’ve received feedback that students really want their teachers to teach them. They like the atmosphere of school.)

Briones said parents are “undecided” on the issue while teachers also expressed willingness to resume the face-to-face classes.

“Ang parents ang medyo undecided. May significant portion sa kanila na undecided. Ang teachers din, gusto din nila. Kasi nakikita nila talaga yung pangangailangan ng face-to-face, no matter how limited,” she said.

(Parents are undecided, there’s a significant portion of them who are undecided. Meanwhile, teachers also want to resume face-to-face classes. They also see the need for it no matter how limited.)

Last year, President Rodrigo Duterte canceled the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes set for January 2021 due to the threat of the new coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom.

EDV