English for Academic and Professional Purposes

POSITION PAPER

Limited Face to Face Classes Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

 Limited Face to Face Classes Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction
Everyday life is unexpected. We do not know what will happen to us in the future. And in
an instant we can lose everything. An example of this is the emergence of a pandemic called
Covid-19. This Covid-19 has a huge impact in our everyday lives. It affects any person's
process of life that all transforms in an eye blink. According to the World Health Organization’s
that Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by a recently found coronavirus, an infectious
disease. The symptoms of COVID-19 can range from mild or no symptoms to serious illness.
The spread of the disease is typically acquired when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or
breathes via droplets produced. These droplets are too large to stay in the air, dropping on
floors or surfaces rapidly. Millions of people are dying because of this virus. That's why the
whole world is concerned about moving out of their homes. But the path of everybody's life
should not end with this, so the government took steps and immediate action, one of these was
the reopening of the school. In low-risk areas, some local government units and private schools
are demanding limited face-to-face lessons. Nonetheless, the big question is are we ready to
take the risk? How will the protection of the planned resumption of face-to-face classes be
guaranteed? Take note we are in the amidst of pandemic that everybody is all adjusting to the
new environment and we are all at risk. Limited face to face class should not be allowed amidst
COVID-19 pandemic because it’s not safe, not all people obey the government rules, and lastly
lack of preparedness of schools.

Body
Returning to school has taken on a set of concerns of parents and the whole individual
because it is not a joke. Upon that decision, human life relies. According to Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), children who have Covid-19 but only have mild symptoms or no
symptoms at all can still spread the virus. Dana, an educator and also the local school Red
Cross coordinator, said that when face-to-face classes start in 2021, this will be a problem. She
stated that the students will become the virus's super-spreaders. Dana said that when
classrooms open again after months of being on lockdown, learners will surely be excited. It is
probable that the virus may be contracted between them. Then, they would then go home to
their families, which may include vulnerable grandparents.
 In the midst of pandemic, various rules and regulations emerged to maintain health
safety. But then again, many of citizens still do not obey the rules for personal reasons or they
do not adopt it easily so that they miss it. Students should not go to school because they are so
aggressive that the simple law can’t obey the others that can particularly lead them to danger.
On March 16, 2020, President Duterte locked down the main Philippine island of Luzon,
hundreds of people in the capital, Manila, and other parts of the country have been detained by
police. Most of the arrests are for breaking the curfew, but others are for breaching the laws of
"social distance" and quarantine. The government media agency confirmed that police arrested
728 people in Bacolod city, Negros, for violating the curfew between March 15-21, and detained
them in police lock-ups overnight before releasing them the next day. This shows that some
people of the society do not know how to obey the law even if its for their own good.

If students become carriers of the deadly disease, how can DepEd and the entire
Duterte system take responsibility? asks John Lazaro from the SPARK Student Community.
The entire world is all adjusting and same as well to our school institution who are still lack of
preparedness from the reopening of the school. According to SPARK spokesperson John
Lazaro, before greater health infrastructures are not present in schools and free mass testing
and contract tracing are properly implemented. And also, If the resumption of physical classes is
immediately enforced, the lives of not only students alone, but also their families and teachers
will be at stake. ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio stated that due to the lack of safety
measures in schools, many of our teachers and employees have been contaminated with
COVID-19 when they were required to report physically, these issues should first be amply
resolved, lest we encourage our students to end up the same way. Even prior to the pandemic,
classroom shortages were an issue. In one classroom, a class of 75 to 80 students was
supposedly meant for a class of only 40. Class shifting was introduced to accommodate
enrollees annually to compensate for the lack of classrooms.
 Even though we are new to this situation, face-to-face class is more efficient than
the “new mode” of learning. But then again for all we know that the department of
education is not officially ready and we are all adjusting from this new situation.
According to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, committee chairman that the DepEd is still
lacking in preparedness for this school year. Several organizations have criticized the
initiative, arguing that, given the shortage of health facilities in schools, opening
classrooms in the midst of a still untamed pandemic is dangerous.

Conclusion

In the COVID-19 pandemic, restricted face to face class should not be permitted.
If indeed the system is not developed and thought out carefully, situations will not improve for
the
better. It proven that it’s not safe to return at school, not that all citizens follow the laws of the
government, and finally, the lack of school readiness. The coronavirus reached us by surprise
and, in time, destroyed us. No one really expected that so many people would be killed,
governments would be forced to shut down, schools and crowded areas would be closed and
our lives would be put-on hold. It caused the world to bleed, and it spread like wildfire. The world
is changing so we should not just make decisions because many lives is at risk if the reopening
of the school is still unprepared. We are here to the point that when children are at school, they
learn more, but life depends of it.