DEPED: ALL CEBU CITY SCHOOLS TO HOLD F2F CLASSES BY JUNE

THE Department of Education (DepEd) aims to open all public schools in Cebu City for the implementation of limited face-toface (F2F) classes before the end of June 2022.

Rhea Mar Angtud, schools division superintendent of DepEd Cebu City, said Tuesday, May 17, that as of Monday, 13 of the 126 public schools in the city had already resumed their limited in-person classes.

Angtud said the opening will serve as a diagnostic to check for any possible issues and concerns before the full implementation of the F2F classes.

These 13 schools are Sibugay Integrated School, Pamutan Integrated School, Mangabon Elementary School, Cantipla Integrated School, Tabunan Integrated School, Sinsin National High School, Deosis Elementary School, Lusaran National High School, Tagbao National High School, Taptap Integrated School, Sinsin Elementary School, Adlaon Integrated School and Bitlang Integrated School.

According to Bernadette Susvilla, the assistant schools division superintendent, the resumption of the limited F2F classes was successful.

“The run was nice because our children were excited and they were happy. They were very happy that for the first time for this school year they were able to return to school. Our teachers were in full force to assist,” said Susvilla in a mix of Cebuano and English.

Susvilla said these 13 schools were selected because they were situated in remote areas, which are far from the dense crowds in the city’s urban places.

These schools also received the safety seal coming from the DepEd-Central Visayas that certified their safety to conduct F2F classes.

Susvilla added that one of the criteria in applying for a safety seal is there should be no recorded coronavirus disease (Covid-19) transmission in the barangays where the schools are situated.

Only for vaccinated

For the limited F2F classes, Susvilla said the number of students inside the classroom is less than its original carrying capacity, as only vaccinated learners will be allowed to participate in the classes.

At the elementary school level, the number of pupils per classroom should not exceed 15 children, while for the junior and senior high school levels, the limit is set at 20 students.

Susvilla said the schools have the prerogative to decide on the duration or number of days for the implementation of the limited F2F classes.

The schools can also choose whether to conduct the limited F2F classes for a minimum of two weeks, or until the end of the school year, which is on July 7.

Additional schools

Angtud said there will be 37 schools that will also conduct limited F2F classes on May 30 and these will already include the schools in the urban area.

Before the end of June, 100 percent of the schools under DepEd will open their doors for limited in-person classes, said Angtud.

The division superintendent added that they are now processing the application for the safety seals of these schools.

Angtud expressed hope that everything would soon return to normal, although it would not be exactly the same as before since the city is now under the new normal due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, she hoped the teachers would still show “the same vigor and passion” in their teaching as they did before, she said.

Angtud added that they are partnering with the Cebu City Health Office in conducting school-based Covid-19 vaccination drives for students and teachers.

In Cebu City, 98 percent of the public school teachers are already fully vaccinated against the new coronavirus, said Angtud.

According to Angtud, the remaining two percent cited religion and health conditions as the reasons for refusing vaccination.

These teachers will be required to submit a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result every two weeks, and they are not allowed to interact with the students during the F2F classes.