SCHOOLYEAR 2021-2022 PLANNED
BAGUIO CITY – (02 July 2021) – Decongested classrooms with virtual set-up for the next school year starting this September is being eyed, according to City Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) Marie Carolyn Verano.
Blended learning or the use of gadgets and printed modules could also be implemented, she added.
Learning could be synchronous with all lessons going on all at the same time, or asynchronous where the student could learn at his own pace, Verano further said.
A P45M fund is allotted for less expensive gadgets, though with the same efficiency and effective use, Verano also intimated during the Ugnayan media forum at city hall, Wednesday.
Challenges last schoolyear which included the no face-to-face classroom setting, lack of funds for duplication of self-learning materials, delivery and retrieval of materials to and from the schools were also addressed. Virtual classrooms are now being planned, funds for next schoolyear’s classroom and printed materials were delivered several weeks ago to the hardworking teachers, and materials were then delivered through uniformed personnel, barangay officials, Parent Teachers Association (PTA), the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK), parents and volunteers.
Several dates in September were marked for the start of public school classes after a month-long vacation, Verano said. Private schools have proposed their own school calendar, she added.
As to reports, private school enrollment declined from 36,000 last year to nearly 28,000; while public school’s roll climbed from to 59,000 to 64,000 as of last pre-listing last January.
With virtual classrooms, there is no need for additional classrooms but for well-trained teachers, gadgets, and continuous internet connections, Verano clarified.
In an earlier meeting with Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a proposal for a school bus was tackled. This is for pupils and students to be ferried to an integrated or extended public elementary or high school site, another way to decongest rooms with 60 to 70 students. There are also alternative schools such as the Alternative Learning System (ALS), music and foreign languages, and different Senior High School strands where students could enroll, Verano ended. – Julie G. Fianza
