ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY: FACE TO FACE CLASSES FOR BASIC EDUCATION (PRESCHOOL-JHS)

  Due to the Pandemic everything changes and becomes more sensitive than before. Just
like the health of people, anyone can become sick instantly because of the lifestyle and the
virus that makes the immune system slow. Prices of the goods in the market change in just
overnight. Sometimes it rises and sometimes it’s always on wholesale. Number of supplies,
especially in medicine.  And especially the interactions with other people, you can’t have a
conversation outside when you’re not wearing a mask. As we know today people were not
allowed to have close contact with others and physical interactions in public. That's why social
distancing is always required. New normal is our thing now where everything can rely on
technology, communication, shopping, watching, entertainment and education of the youths. 
In this kind of new normal is it efficient to allow face to face classes for the basic education such
as pre-school to high school students? Is the new implementation of face to face classes by
DepEd worth joining and support?

   On December 15, 2021 Department of Education published an article titled, On the

opening of the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes. The article includes how
many public schools are willing to participate. The teachers, instructors and the students. And
the rules and regulations that are needed to follow and the healthy protocols.

   But if I were to ask, my stand is on the opposite side of it. I myself don’t see this as an
efficient way to learn and teach students. Having online classes is a new thing everyone was
adopting from it since it was introduced to the student in the last 2020 school year. If there's a
more safe and convenient way to learn. Here’s the reasons and evidence why having face to
face classes for basic education is not efficient at all.

    DepEd brackets the target students starting from the Pre-school to Junior high school
students' ages 5-7 years old in Pre-school and 16-18 years old in Junior high school.   The
preschool students are still considered as kids and children. They are very fragile in this
pandemic. They can’t express properly what hurts in them when they get ill so therefore
parents can’t deliver the treatment that they need to undergo. And considering that they are
the one who’s still not mandatory to get any vaccination against covid-19. In Jhs student part,
students are adolescents here so they undergo different changes on their body not only
physically so, there’s a chance and probability the vaccine that they take for anti-Covid can’t be
adopted by their body and have a worse result.
  Face to face implementation includes that it’s only “Limited” so therefore not all schools
can participate on this. What will happen to the students, teachers and instructors that will
participate in this face to face if they suddenly tested positive does DepEd have liabilities on it?

       Open your eyes, and learn to adapt to the new system of education while it’s pandemic. So
we can help the front liners in not adding to the positive cases. And help our community and
country to restore the damage caused by the pandemic. Consider what we have now besides
Online education provides high-quality programs while remaining cheaper. A high-quality
online programme is able to maintain the most impactful elements of in-person programs and
offer them in its online instruction. This does not mean a simple transference of coursework;
quality programs utilize state-of-the-art tools and techniques to create unique material specific
to online learners. A face-to-face programme is much more expensive than its online
equivalent, due to associated costs and money spent on commuting.

      That’s my stand and point in this controversial issue of coming back to face to face for
basic education. Just imagine what the risks that you’ll take once you join and approve face to
face classes. It’s like you’re approving that it’s okay to risk your health and have disease. Think
more broadly and the good of many people. Having education face to face is really helpful. Your
teachers and professors can guarantee that before the student comes home he/she learns
something. But it’s not the right time again to try that kind of approach.

 
References:

H. (2021a, March 27). Face-to-face Classes In Basic Education Are Still Prohibited Nationwide - DepEd.
Helpline PH. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://helplineph.com/deped/face-to-face-classes-in-
basic-education/

Winthrop, R. (2020, April 10). Top 10 risks and opportunities for education in the face of COVID-19.
Brookings. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-
development/2020/04/10/top-10-risks-and-opportunities-for-education-in-the-face-of-covid-19/

NCBI - WWW Error Blocked Diagnostic. (n.d.-d). NCBI. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7928711/

403 Forbidden Access. (2021, November 14). DepEd. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from
https://www.deped.gov.ph/2021/11/14/on-the-opening-of-the-pilot-implementation-of-limited-face-
to-face-classes/