DepEd NCR chief to propose students' visit to schools for interaction
MANILA, Philippines — Education officials in Metro Manila are eyeing to propose occasional visits by students to schools for interaction, with the distance learning brought by the coronavirus pandemic set to begin this October.
Dir. Malcolm Garma of the department's regional office for the National Capital Region said Friday that the move is a realization of their house-to-house visits with children unable to see their peers for months now.
Schools across the country have been shut since March after lockdowns were imposed due to COVID-19 that has halted the learning of students.
Garma, a member of the regional IATF, said he will make the proposal to the national body should NCR shift to modified general community quarantine which Malacañang has said was "not an impossibility."
"Yung mga bata nakikita ko sa mga bahay nagiging mahiyain," he said at a press conference for the opening of classes on October 5. "Ayoko mangyari sana na itong henerasyon na ito ng mga bata magka-social trauma dahil hindi na sila nakalalabas."
(We have seen that kids staying in their homes have become shy. I don't want this generation to develop social trauma because they can no longer go out.)
The education official said the move, which will happen per batch, will not involve face-to-face learning but activities for students to meet their classmates and teachers.
President Rodrigo Duterte had long shunned the possibility of conducting on-site learning in schools with a vaccine for COVID-19 yet to be developed.
"Maari itong maging initiative ng NCR. 'Di naman sila magka-klase, dadalhin lang natin sila sa school, maga-activity sila [at] maglalaro tapos after 2 hours babalik na sila sa bahay," Garma added.
(This can be an initiative of the NCR. They won't hold classes. We will bring them to schools, they will hold activities then after two hours, they will return home.)
Figures from the regional office showed that some 2,610,701 students in Metro Manila have enrolled for distance learning this school year that has faced opposition, as groups warn that millions of students who do not have the means will be left out.
Officials have attributed part of the increase in public school enrollees to parents opting to transfer their children from private institutions.
At a Palace briefing on Thursday, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque did not rule out that Metro Manila could be placed under a more relaxed quarantine status.
It came after Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez, who chairs the Metro Manila Council, brought up the possibility as he said reported infections in the capital region are on the decrease.
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