The New Normal: Should We Stick to Online Classes or Focus on

Implementing Face-to-Face Classes?

A Position Paper submitted to the

Department of English
University of Santo Tomas

In fulfillment
of the requirements for the course
Purposive Communications

By:
Rendel John D. Reyes

Submitted to:
Mildred M. Antonio, MAT

September 8, 2021
ARGUMENT OUTLINE:

Topic sentence/ Thesis Statement: Implementing face-to-face classes must be one of the
priorities of the government.

Argument 1: Students are struggling since the implementation of the face-to-face

classes.
Support 1: Online classes are physically and mentally exhausting.
Support 2: Students are learning a lot less in the online setup.
Argument 2: Online classes are expensive
Support 1: Online setup is anti-poor.
Counterargument: Face-to-face classes are putting the children’s lives at risk.
Support 1: The COVID-19 virus is mutating at a rapid rate.
Support 2: The reopening of businesses and other establishments caused an
increase in cases, how much more the opening of classes in a face-to-face setup.
Argument 3 (Counter-counterargument):
Support 1: Prioritizing the implementation of face-to-face classes is achieved after
prioritizing the health of the people.
The New Normal: Should We Stick to Online Classes or Focus on Implementing Face-to-
Face Classes?

Since the spread of the COVID-19 in the Philippines back in 2020, the government
suspended all face-to-face classes. In August 2020, the Department of Education (DepEd)
and Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) decided to open the school year without
risking the health of the students and the teachers by implementing the virtual learning
setup. The government decided to postpone the face-to-face classes until the vaccine for
the COVID-19 becomes available in the market. Months after the vaccine became available,
face-to-face classes are still on hold (Magsambol, 2020). In addition, the 2021 budget for
the three leading agencies for education: DepEd, CHEd, and TESDA, along with the
budget for health, is insufficient, according to different analysts (Punongbayan et al., 2020).
Education plays a vital role in the development of a country and the skills of an individual,
and the implemented virtual learning setup is not effective in building the necessary skills
for the students. The government needs to prioritize the implementation of face-to-face
classes for the students and the country.

The online learning setup comes with its set of problems. One of these is it is
physically and mentally exhausting. Not all households have a decent learning area,
making it difficult for some students to find a comfortable place to listen and study,
resulting in eyesight problems, body strains, and other physical problems. Physical
activities are also significantly reduced. The simple raising of hand and standing up when
called during the face-to-face setup helps the body. Headaches and eyesight problems due
to the prolonged exposure to screens also became rampant (Magsambol, 2021). Online
classes also introduce the "Zoom fatigue" - a term representing the exhaustion experienced
by the students, teachers, and even businessmen during an online meeting (Qalbani, 2020).
The online meeting platforms raise the anxiety of the students during classes, especially
during recitations (Center, 2021). Being unable to see the faces and the reactions of their
classmates makes it hard for a student to participate in class discussions. Our brain also
needs time to adjust to a new setting and this sudden change proves mentally draining for
many. Studying with your teachers and classmates in your personal space at home feels
invading for some people. The workload also feels heavy for most of the students. The lack
of sleep and exhaustion caused by the online classes forces the students to take up
additional time to adjust. For this reason, the normal workload during the face-to-face
classes became heavy for the students.

The students are also learning a lot less compared to the face-to-face setup. Most
students desire to pass, which puts their academic integrity at stake. This promotes cheating,
which is further promoted because the items in the quizzes and seat works can be
"googled." Essay writing and homework services are also becoming popular as a way of
earning money. Hence, students are convinced to avail these services to meet their
deadlines and finish their tasks without relying on their knowledge. The internet problems
caused by poor internet connectivity and power interruptions also cause the students to
miss an important lesson.

The online setup also disfavors the poor, or "anti-poor." People who cannot afford
a decent internet connection, and gadgets suffer the most during the setup. Not all students
can effectively self-study, and these students who cannot attend online classes are at a
disadvantage academically. Ookla also showed that the Philippines have one of the slow
internet connection speeds in the world, ranking 72nd out of 130 countries in mobile
connection speed, peaking at an average of 33.69mbps, compared to the 190mbps of UAE
(– Internet Speed around the World –, 2021). United Nations also declared that the
Philippines are one of the countries with a slow but expensive internet cost (Salac & Kim,
2016). The slow internet connection is a hindrance to learning, especially to those who
cannot afford decent connectivity. The teachers' voices become inaudible due to internet
problems, rendering the students unable to understand the lesson. They used their money
to buy load and data for online classes, but the speed is not decent, so they still cannot
understand anything. The incapable students shoulder the burden of the suspension of face-
to-face classes, even though they are not at fault.
 Despite these reasons, implementing face-to-face classes puts the children's lives at
risk. With the continuous mutation of the COVID-19, and the increasing cases each day,
the health risk accompanied by the pandemic is also vastly increasing. Studies show that
even those fully vaccinated individuals are still at risk of having COVID-19. The re-opened
establishments followed the protocols but the cases keep on rising every day. Re-opening
the classes in a face-to-face setup will be fatal not just to the students and school personnel,
but also to the country. The government can also assign a budget for improving internet
connection speeds for the households since this will also be needed shortly.

The implementation of face-to-face classes is a result of a proper healthcare system.

Prioritizing the face-to-face classes means that the government must do everything in its
part to achieve a safer environment for the students through enforcing health protocols,
vaccinations, and funding on healthcare services and establishments. Also, being
vaccinated indeed does not result in being immune to the virus but rather being more
resistant to it. Vaccines also reduce the chance of being a carrier, which helps stop the
spread of the virus. The budget assigned to infrastructures and transportation can be used
for healthcare services instead. Without the proper healthcare in the Philippines, face-to-
face classes will only be a dream for many students since the virus is not getting away soon.

The COVID-19 will not be going anytime soon. The people, and most especially
the government needs to adapt and find appropriate solutions for this crisis. The
implementation of online classes in all schools, however, is never a desirable solution, but
rather just a temporary remedy for the situation. The people in authority need to prioritize
the re-opening of classes in a face-to-face setup. We cannot continue to compromise
education for the incompetence of those who are leading. There are many things that could
have been done in the past, and these things must be done as soon as possible today.
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