BATANES – Batanes Lone District Representative Ciriaco Gato Jr. does not think face-to-face classes could be held anew in this province despite the passage of a House resolution requesting President Duterte to allow the conduct of traditional classes in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) low-risk islands.
Gato noted that, during the House deliberations, the Department of Education (DepEd) had already disapproved of the proposal.
"It was approved by the House, but DepEd disapproved it. So most likely, di matutuloy, for now," he said.
According to Gato, the House resolution will still have to be endorsed to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on emerging diseases, and then to President Duterte for his approval.
Nevertheless, Gato said the initiative to return to face-to-face classes already had the support of some members of the IATF.
It has been noted here that a majority of parents and students were already pushing for the return of face-to-face classes because good quality of education was not being met under DepEd’s blended learning system, which was adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was also pointed out that Batanes has largely been successful in keeping itself COVID-19-free, save for two cases, which have already recovered.