It was 4:30 a.m. on November 15, and Issa Bautista, seven, was already awake and busy preparing for her classes, which began at 7. It wasn't a modular class at home or an online class this time. Longos Elementary School in Alaminos City, Pangasinan, was chosen as one of 100 public schools across the country to pilot limited face-to-face classes.
“Nakaligo na si Issa. Nakapag-prepare na rin ako ng pagkain niya, ‘tsaka mga sapatos niya, prepared na para sa kanyang pagpasok. Uniforms, excited po siya talaga maisuot ‘yun para makabalik at makapag-aral na sa school,” Issa’s mother, Christabel, told Rappler.
(She already took a bath. I have prepared her food, and the shoes she would wear for school. She’s also excited to wear her school uniform, to return to school and study there.)
Christabel was one of the struggling parents of Longos Elementary School students who were excited about the return of face-to-face classes. She was one of many Filipino parents who bore the brunt of the country's school system's unpreparedness for distance learning for an entire school year.
“Matagal na naming sinasabi na mga magulang na sana bumalik na sila sa school, magkaroon ng face-to-face. Ito talaga ang wish namin. Sinasabi namin sa mga teachers namin na sana, ’Ma’am, magkaroon na ng face-to-face kasi iba po ‘yung kayo ang nagtuturo eh,'” Christabel said.
(We, parents, have been wishing for schools to open, to have face-to-face classes. This is really our wish. We had been telling their teachers, “Ma’am, we hope that face-to-face classes resume because you can teach better than we do.”)
Photo Credits: Rappler
Reference: Rappler
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