The strongest supporters of the resumption of limited face-to-face classes are the students and the teachers themselves, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones, during the press briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque, Jr. on Thursday, Feb. 18, said that based on a survey the DepEd has conducted, it was revealed that the “strongest supporter” of face-to-face learning are the learners.
“This is my personal take, but it was also confirmed in the survey we conducted among over 1 million participants, that the strongest and the most intense support are coming from the learners themselves,” Briones said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Briones noted that the said survey gathered students, parents, and teachers as respondents. “We saw that among the children who participated, more than 50 percent really wanted to attend face to face classes because they will benefit from this,” she said.
In the past months, Briones said that she has been receiving feedback coming from children on the current learning set-up. “They really want the teachers to teach them. They miss their teachers, their classmates, and their schools. They really want the school atmosphere,” she added.
Briones noted that the teachers were also supportive of the possible resumption of face-to-face classes. “However, a significant portion of parents remain undecided,” she explained.
DepEd formally For school year (SY) 2020-2021 on Oct. 5 under distance learning set-up. Over 25 million students in the basic education level in both public and private schools are under home-based learning following the directive of President Duterte to prohibit the conduct of face-to-face classes until a vaccine has been found.