CEBU CITY—Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has expressed support to the proposal of holding face-to-face classes with limited capacity.
The League of Municipalities in the Philippines (LMP) Cebu Chapter has passed a resolution supporting the resumption of face-to-face classes.
In backing the resolution, Garcia said the Cebu provincial government was willing to spend for the textbooks and school supplies of the estimated 600,000 students in the province.
The province will also provide vitamins for the students and ultraviolet lamps for schools’ sterilization.
“I think it’s about time because we are seeing that these modules are not working because the province is not Internet-ready. We conducted a survey in the whole province, town by town, the best figure is only at 20 percent are Internet ready,” Garcia said in a press briefing Tuesday.
Garcia said the face-to-face classes will also be beneficial for students.
“It is important that there is some form of interaction with their peers. Maybe we do not need to do it in an immediate expanded manner but little by little, slowly, definitely that should be the goal. We have to go back to face to face,” she said.
Under the proposal of the Department of Education (DepEd) Cebu Province, the face-to-face classes would be limited to schools in the hinterlands and islands where there are less students that would make the observance of physical distancing easier.
DepEd 7 Director Dr. Salustiano Jimenez said the face-to-face classes will be implemented gradually.
“Two days’ maximum face-to-face per week with 50 percent capacity. So, if let us say, there are 20 learners in the class, 10 will be on the first two days, the other two days for another 50 percent and Friday will be the teachers’ preparation,” Jimenez said.