IN-PERSON CLASSES NOT IDEAL AMIDST THREATS OF OMICRON
Learners and teachers in Baguio should not wonder and feel bad that the city is not one of the pilot areas for the face-to-face or in-person classes in the Cordillera, even as we recognize the desire of stakeholders to resume to traditional learning.
For one, the threat of the Covid-19 remains, which was made more alarming with the recent detection of another variant of concern called Omic- ron, which was first detected in South Africa.
While we are miles away from South Africa, the virus that causes the Covid-19 knows no barrier reason why several countries, including Australia and the United States of America have reported the presence of Omicron infection among their citizens.
The Department of Education has started the implementation of in-person classes in 20 schools in the Cordillera on Nov. 29, although other schools started on Nov. 15.
As reported earlier, Mountain Province has the highest number of approved schools for limited face-to-face classes with nine public schools; Tabuk City, Kalinga with three; and two each for Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, and Ifugao.
The exclusion of elementary and secondary schools in Baguio has surprised many learners and teachers in the Summer Capital, which has already vaccinated almost all eligible adult individuals while mass vaccination of the pediatric population is underway.
Such decision should not be viewed in a negative light.
In fact, we welcome the decision of the city government to not open the classrooms yet; at least, not this early when we still have not reached the desired number of 12 to 17 years old or those belonging to the pediatric who must be vaccinated.
Based on the latest pediatric population, to which elementary and high school learners fall into, 14,125 of the 42,811 eligible pediatric population are fully vaccinated. The city government has still a long way to go in its vaccination if it wants to reach its target of inoculating 95 percent of the pediatric population.
Also, if we look at the profile of the schools that were allowed to hold in-person classes, the number of learners are minimal, which allows minimum health protocols to be strictly adhered to, like the observation of physical distancing.
In Baguio, no school has a population of 50 learners from kindergarten to grade 6, which would allow them to safely interact with their teachers inside the classroom. Mostly, in these pilot areas too, learners may not need to commute to and from their schools, thus avoiding their exposure to an environment that may increase their risk of contracting the virus that causes the Covid-19.
These, among reasons, are why we are calling on learners in Baguio City to maximize the initiatives being done for them to cope with the demands of the current learning setup, in the meantime.
We understand the challenges learners and teachers have to overcome in the current learning setup, much as we understand the need for the city government to protect its people from the unceasing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even without holding in-person classes, we are confident that schools in Baguio City, with the help of stakeholders, are doing their best and are implementing measures aimed at helping the learners achieve quality education, which they deserve.
It is our hope that no one is left behind in the ongoing vaccination rollout, especially among eligible individuals in the pediatric population.