The San Juan City local government reopened on Thursday, Feb. 10, its face-to-face classes.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora witnessed the resumption of face-to-face classes at Pedro Cruz Elementary School.
The school had its pilot run from kinder to grade three last year just before the surge in new COVID-19 cases brought about by the Omicron variant.
According to Zamora, the face-to-face classes have now been extended up to grade six.
Pedro Cruz Elementary School was chosen after it passed the Department of Education's (DepEd's) Schools Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT) and showed its readiness for the limited face-to-face learning modality.
“We are excited to have our children back in schools especially since we have started vaccinating children ages 5-11 years old,” Zamora said.
He expressed hope that as more students get vaccinated, their parents will be more at ease to send them back to school.
The mayor explained that to ensure the students’ safety, the minimum public health and safety protocols will be strictly observed. Children will be seated at a safe distance from each other and they will be required to wear face masks at all times and to wash and sanitize their hands. Teachers are also required to be fully vaccinated before they can teach in their classes.
Zamora also urged his constituents to get vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 despite the drop in active cases in the city.
San Juan City reported 50 active COVID-19 cases as of Feb. 8, a dramatic decrease from the 1,947 cases it logged last Jan. 12.
The mayor emphasized that the vaccines are safe for children and getting vaccinated is a huge protection for them from contracting the coronavirus.
"The vaccine is safe and effective. It will protect our children from severe symptoms of COVID-19. I already had my two boys, Nicolas and Noah, aged 11 and 8, inoculated with Pfizer, so there is nothing to be afraid of,” he said.