Govt mulls face-to-face classes in MGCQ areas

The government is studying the proposal to conduct face-to-face classes in areas under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) as education officials recognized that many Filipino parents might face difficulties in teaching lessons to their children through distance learning.

President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairman Prospero de Vera III to submit their written proposal on physical classes, Malacañang said Thursday.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the officials’ recommendations would be reviewed by the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), the government’s policymaking body on matters related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Briones, in a separate briefing, said that proposals to conduct limited face-to-face classes in areas considered as “low-risk” for coronavirus transmission would undergo “careful evaluation” to ensure the safety of students.

Should the government approve the proposal, Briones said schools should ensure that they have adequate number of chairs, as well as supply of water and medicines, to give way for physical distancing and frequent hand washing.

She also underscored the importance of proper ventilation in classrooms, especially that some studies have shown that coronavirus could stay in the air for a few hours in poorly ventilated indoor spaces.

“Face-to-face relationships of children with other children, their teachers and school administrators will give them a good environment so they will grow as good human beings and not necessarily robots by the time,” Briones stated.

During a meeting with President Duterte late Wednesday night, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III supported the proposal, citing the longer case doubling time and low utilization rate of healthcare systems in MGCQ areas.

Duque also said that face-to-face classes may be allowed in areas which have no recorded case in the past 28 days.

Meanwhile, De Vera said he has ordered universities and colleges to move laboratory work, internships and other activities that would require physical attendance to the second semester of the incoming school year.

At that time, COVID-19 cases in the country would probably be down and a vaccine could even have been discovered, he said.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the government’s action plan against the coronavirus spread, said that authorities would inspect schools to check compliance with health protocols in case limited face-to-face classes are allowed to resume.

He said playgrounds and cafeteria buffets would be prohibited and separate entry and exit points would be established.