Most children are returning to school this week. I am sure they would be very excited and happy to see their school again and their classrooms. Imagine not seeing and feeling the ambience of classrooms for more than two years.
But most of all I can hear laughter, screaming, playing and joking in the air because schoolchildren absolutely miss their classmates and seeing them for the first time again will be such a happy occasion. The friendships they have developed being together all these years is what they have missed during those lockdowns and restrictions in mobility.
True, they may have been seeing them online in those two years that hybrid learning was adopted, but there Is no substitute to the feel, sight and auditory experience of being together again, even for just half day (for elementary public schools) and whole day (for some public high schools).
As of May26 this year around 34,238 schools have been nominated for face- to- face classes and over 33,000 of them are public schools while the remainder are private schools.
The Department of Education eyes 100 percent onsite classes on November 2 yet for elementary and secondary schools, according to DepEd last Tuesday. But beginning this week around 56.89 percent of all public schools nationwide would resume F2F learning. Those affected by the quake and storms/floods will still hold hybrid classes while the schoolbuildings are being repaired.
The DepEd is releasing today (August 15) the complete guidelines for the return of full five-day face to face classes for School Year 2022-2023.
In a virtual press briefing last July, DepEd Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said schools will be given options of in-person, blended, or full-distance learning only until October 31. But after this, all enrolled students will be required to attend face-to-face classes, under DepEd Order (DO) 034, series of 2022.Jul 12, 2022
But why do we need F2F classes? According to studies, F2F gives better motivation to study and students get instant feedback. It is difficult to learn everything through computer. Face to face interaction with instructors is better for the learning process and it resolves study problems faster.
Face-to-face learning is much better compared to online learning because, as the Stanford researchers found out, “in-person communications make our brains happier.”
In a classroom setting, teachers can manage their topics very well because there is no longer a need to compress their topics to fit the modules.
Besides our experience show that teachers and learners constantly faced connectivity problems, what with the kind of internet connection we have in our country.