AT LEAST seven more public elementary and secondary schools in Bacolod City also submitted their requirements to conduct limited face-to-face (F2F) classes in the city, an official said.
Councilor Renecito Novero, chairperson of the City Council committee on education, said he forwarded the lists to the City Council Thursday, March 17, 2022, for its approval through a resolution.
“Apolinario Mabini Elementary School, Cabug National High School, Negros Occidental High School, Emilia J. Garcia Elementary School, Romanito Maravilla Jr. National High School, Handumanan Elementary School I, and Luis Hervias National High School, among others, have already applied for the limited F2F classes,” he said. “We need to endorse it to the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia.”
The councilor said the local government will also give its imprimatur so they can start the F2F classes.
Once they will be approved, Novero said the school can also make their own arrangement or schedule for the conduct of limited F2F classes.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of EOC-TF, earlier said about 70 public elementary and secondary schools in Bacolod already signified their intention to join the limited F2F classes.
He said only Alangilan National High School in Barangay Alangilan is currently holding limited F2F classes.
Mabini Elementary School also earlier submitted its requirements while other schools were also given their schedules to submit theirs at the Department of Education regional and national offices.
Sorongon said based on the guidelines issued by EOC-TF, all students who will participate in limited F2F classes should be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
He said aside from students, all teachers, including non-teaching personnel, should also be vaccinated against Covid-19 as well as the immediate family of students.
“We want to proceed (with limited F2F classes) with caution (as) we don’t want our students to be infected with the virus because of the unvaccinated individuals inside their classrooms,” the official added.