AS THE Department of Education remains committed to ensure that learning continues amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, it continuously addresses issues and concerns relative to the opening of the school year on August 24, 2020.

While it has successfully eased off the confusion and lack of awareness about the modalities that will be implemented for the school children following the directives of the President to prohibit face-to-face classes until a vaccine is invented, other issues such as wearing uniforms have also been raised by concerned parents.

In its official statement released recently, the DepEd said it does not require the wearing of uniforms while students attend their online classes and accomplish their modules at home. It reiterates that "even before the pandemic, (the wearing of school uniform) is not a strict requirement for public schools. With face to face classes prohibited, learners are welcome to wear their most comfortable and appropriate while learning at the safe confines of their homes.

However, this does not mean that students can wear anything they want to whenever they attend classes whether online or offline. Just like how we adopted the "new normal" wearing of business attire wherein the upper part is formal, and the bottom part of the body is not properly dressed since it is not seen, this should also be the case for our students. Imagine, if a teacher sees a student wearing only a spaghetti strap top or a male student without a shirt, that is considered inappropriate for the learning session. Students still need to be reminded and guided on what a decent student wears even if they are within their homes.

If they would actually ask me, personally, I would like my children to wear uniform while they attend online learning sessions hoping it would help them feel that they are actually studying and must focus on what they are doing. This is to address the difficulty of shifting to school activities because children might be too comfortable inside the home that they tend to lose focus and get distracted easily.

Any way possible, whether kids will wear uniforms or wear something comfortable but appropriate, we are dealing with a new trend as parents and children together. As parents, we must not forget that we should always guide our kids in doing what is right all the time.