Bontoc wants inclusion in face-to-face classes

By Christy Mae Che-es

BONTOC, Mountain Province – The Bontoc local government urged the Dept. of Education to include all schools in this capital town for its face-to-face pilot program.
    Learning modules and online classes have been adapted as "new normal education” since the pandemic has started in the country.
    Recognizing the growing needs of students for face-to-face lessons, the Sangguniang Bayan passed a resolution requesting the inclusion of all the schools in Bontoc, Mountain Province in the face-to-face pilot program and further allowing all forms of face-to-face educational arrangements subject to certain limitations.
    Per DepEd Memo No. 071, S. 2021, a total of 120 schools were given green light to conduct pilot face-to-face classes nationwide. However, no school in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has been included.
    Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey, members of the Sangguniang Bayan, school heads from different schools had a consultation and were convinced that the schools in the capital town are prepared for the conduct of face-to-face classes while strictly adhering to health protocols and exerting effort for the protection of the students against Covid-19.
    Mayor Odsey, a teacher for years said face-to-face classes in order was needed to develop and enhance students’ abilities not only in academics but also in their social lives.
    “Modular and online learning has inarguably been useful during this time of pandemic, however, as we transition to the new normal in education, we must try to go back to the traditional teaching-learning method in order to maintain and develop student competence,” he added. 
    Resolution No. 381, S. 2021, therefore, aims to request DepEd Regional Director Estela Cariño through Mountain Province Schools Division Superintendent Sally Ullalim for the inclusion of all the schools in the municipality in the face-to-face pilot program which will be subject to all conditions as may be imposed by the national government through the DepEd and the Department of Health (DOH), and the Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force (MIATF).
    The said resolution is sponsored by Sangguniang Bayan members Alsannyster Patingan and Jerome Tudlong, Jr.