MICLAT, Lucille Erica T.

April 24, 2023

11 - Socrates of Athens Reading and Writing

After reading the article “No Vaccine, No Classes? School Opening In Limbo;
Alternative Modes of Learning Pushed”, I can say that yes, I agree with President Duterte when
he said that it can be really dangerous for the young ones to go out without any vaccination
against the COVID-19 virus. I understood his point mainly because it is already a fact that kids
can be careless at some point. Even if the adults keep on reminding them of the following health
protocols that they should apply, at the end of the day, once they are already in the comfort of
their friends, there’s a possibility that they will no longer be able to remember such reminders
just because they are already having fun. It is also an axiom that those small carelessness of
the youth can inflict harm and problems to a whole lot of people.

But even if his statement regarding the vaccines are undeniably true, the part
where he said that “Wala nang aral. Laro na lang.” is actually a very deleterious comment
especially for the youth because it doesn’t mean that once they cannot go to school physically,
they can no longer study as well. I definitely agreed when his spokesperson and other
officials said that learning could continue through various means because it is a fact that
there can still be other ways to study, especially if you really want to. Life cannot stop just
because of a single problem.

Going back to school even with no vaccinations as long as the community

quarantines have already been lifted is also another reasonable solution in order to get back
the students in schooling safely because once our government has decided to lift the community
quarantines, this firstly means that our COVID-19 patient rates have gone or slowed down
already. This is also a sign that our country is already more equipped and can now manage the
said virus in a more calm and efficient manner. In this statement: “Let’s hope by the 24th (of
August) or by September, at least we reach that point that we are in the new normal
because more or less we would be able to manage the risks. That means we have slowed
down significantly the doubling rate of (COVID-19) and we have enough critical care
facilities.”, Harry Roque has a point since the government will not take the risk of lifting up the
community quarantines especially if they know that our country isn’t well prepared to handle the
pandemic well enough.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, in his virtual press briefing on May 26,
offered a different take on when classes can physically resume. In the absence of what
he described as a new normal, he said the government would turn to flexible learning
modes using television, radio and the internet. —-- This phrase sums up the fact that there
are still other ways to learn even though a student is not physically going to school. We can
recall that during the school year 2020 - 2021, us students were not able to go to school given
the fact that our country is still facing a whole lot and piling up of COVID -19 patients. In order
for our schooling to continue, online classes have begun with the use of technology and the
internet. It has been the set up of both students and teachers for more than 2 years. Thus, we
can say that it is really true that we can find other much more suitable ways for the students’
learning to continue without choosing to either risk their health or to let them grow up being
uneducated.

Textual evidences from the article:

● “Wala nang aral. Laro na lang.” - Quoting

● his spokesperson and other officials said that learning could continue through
various means - Paraphrasing

● “Let’s hope by the 24th (of August) or by September, at least we reach that point
that we are in the new normal because more or less we would be able to manage
the risks. That means we have slowed down significantly the doubling rate of
(COVID-19) and we have enough critical care facilities.” - Quoting and
Summarizing (because it summarized the meaning of new normal)

● Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, in his virtual press briefing on May 26,
offered a different take on when classes can physically resume. In the absence of
what he described as a new normal, he said the government would turn to flexible
learning modes using television, radio and the internet. Referencing and
Paraphrasing