COVID-19 crisis: Monday-Wednesday, Thursday-Saturday classes proposed

MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker on Wednesday proposed two different three-day class shifts for areas under enhanced community quarantine due to COVID-19. 

ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo said there can be two class shifts—Monday to Wednesday and Thursday to Saturday—for students depending on their year level. 

Under Tulfo’s proposal, class shifts are as follows:

Elementary Level

Kindergarten to Grade 3: Monday to Wednesday only 

Grade 4 to Grade 6: Thursday to Saturday only

Junior High School Level

Grade 7 and Grade 8: Monday to Wednesday only

Grade 9 and Grade 10: Thursday to Saturday only

Senior High School Level

Grade 11: Monday to Wednesday only

Grade 12: Thursday to Saturday only

College Level

1st Year and 2nd Year: Monday to Wednesday only

3rd Year, 4th Year, and 5th Year: Thursday to Saturday only

According to Tulfo, Sunday shall serve as a rest day and a day for the weekly disinfection of schools on top of the daily disinfection measures in place. Thus, school activities such as ROTC and NSTP are also banned. 

“Another measure is a comprehensive health check on all teachers, nonteaching staff, students, parents, and guardians. This is needed to make sure there are no carriers and infected among these people who interact around school activities,” Tulfo said. 

“To augment classroom lessons, a combination of online, televised, radio broadcast, open high, and alternative learning methods can be applied,” she added. 

Tulfo also thumbed down the idea of canceling classes until December, calling the move “too extreme and disruptive.”

The number of COVID-19 cases in the country has increased to 6,710 as of April 22, according to the Department of Health. 

KGA