Getting really ready for face-to-face classes

With the dropping of the numbers of COVID-19 infections comes the normalization of the different
aspects of life and the various sectors of society.

Business and tourism seem to be making headway now, but education seems to have been left behind.
For two years now, our pupils and students have had to deal with several modes of learning, one of
which isn’t exactly conducive to learning but totally favorable to cheating.

It is a system that cannot be sustained for long. Fortunately, the government has seen it fit to declare it
safe to resume face-to-face classes in some areas, including Cebu City. For now, these schools are in the
city’s mountain barangays.

Before any schools in the city’s lowlands are reopened, there should be things taken into consideration.
Again, you can’t open a school alone. A school needs a lot of support from the community around it;
stores to take care of supplies and certain services, transportation to move its students, and the
barangay itself to keep its surroundings safe, just to name a few.

Opening a school entails fully activating the area around it. And with that comes the people who serve
that community, both the cautious and the careless when it comes to the coronavirus. So the different
local government units must be prepared for this eventuality.

Aside from getting the community ready, the children themselves should also be readied to go to classes
in what we call the new normal.