PALO, Leyte- The biggest public elementary school of this town will pilot the face-to-face classes on Monday (Nov.15) involving two kids of special needs.
The Palo I Central School, which has a current enrollment of 2,042 students with 64 teachers, has been selected as one of the 10 public schools in Eastern Visayas selected by the Department of Education(DepEd) as pilot schools for a limited face-to-face classes since the pandemic started almost two years now.
School principal Onesima Dacillo said that while they will only welcome two students, they are still upbeat for the ‘start’ of the face-to-face classes on their school this Monday.
“We are ready for the opening of the face-to-face classes in our school and we will have a festive opening with all the teachers in attendance and other officials of the DepEd and local government present,” she said.
According to her, their school was selected by the DepEd as one of the pilot schools for the face-to-face classes as Barangay Cavite West, the area where the school is located, has zero case of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
It was learned from Dacillo that the school’s Speed (special education) class has 12 students enrolled but only two parents acceded for a face-to-face classes instead of the current modular learning method.
The students are both boys and 11 years of age.
Kya Demecillo, who will handle pilot face-to-face, said that considering of the nature of her students, she will not teach them at the same time.
“It will be a one-on-one teaching because of their behavioral differences. For sure, it will be very challenging as there will be some adjustments to be made due to different set up,” Demecillo, who will be wearing personal protective equipment all throughout her classes, said.
The first student will attend the class from 8 am until 9 am with a 15-minute interval to be used for the disinfection of the classroom. It will only then the other student will be allowed to enter.
As part of the protocol, the two will undergo body temperature check and to sanitize their hands using alcohol.
Ma.Cherry Cabrigas, village chairwoman of Cavite West, said that they are aware that the Palo I Central School has been selected as a pilot school for the face-to-face classes.
“It will be very limited as only two students are involved. Hopefully, this will eventually result for more students attending a face-to-face method of classes,” she said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
