While school year 2020-2021 will most likely be completed through online or blended learning, the Department of Education (DepEd) has also released the proposed classroom seat arrange should there be a chance for face-to-face learning.
Times are shifting and learners’ education might be greatly affected, but for their safety, the DepEd plans on making classes limited to no more than 20 students per class.
Photo credit: DepEd
Just like the guidelines for social distancing used in public places wherein people are asked to stand apart by at least 1 meter, the seats in the classrooms should also be at least 1 meter apart.
This means that for classrooms with armchairs, there will only be 20 seats in the room that should be moved to comply with this minimum distance requirement. Based on the photo shared by the DepEd, the space in the classroom is maximized to comply, with the rows still neatly arranged.
Meanwhile, rooms with the tables and chairs arrangement might have a more difficult challenge of fitting 20 sets for the learners due to space requirements. So, it might be possible that only 15 learners will be able to stay in rooms with this kind of study table.
One solution would be to shift to the armchairs to still keep the maximum 20 learners instead of just 15. But this could also depend on the school’s budget to purchase new armchairs, particularly if all rooms had previously been furnished with sets of tables and chairs.
While the plan sounds good, many parents pointed out that kids love to move around and chat or play with other kids. Unless there’s ‘martial law’ implemented inside the classroom wherein kids are forced to stay in their seats throughout the day.
“Great plan but not practical without funding. With the number of students per classroom right now, the government would need to triple the number of classrooms and teachers to accommodate the smaller number of students per classroom. You would also have to consider that kids would be kids so they’ll still be running around playing with each other making the entire thing a waste of money unless you disallow contact between students, which is stupid. Assemblies, sports classes, hell, even dance practice for an upcoming presentation would all have to be disallowed I don’t know how can the government can make distance learning affordable to the masses but it’s looking like it’s the best solution for the current situation,” one netizen commented.
“Nowadays, most public schools have 50-60 students per section and even before COVID, facilities weren’t enough to accommodate everyone. Some schools even hold classes in their covered courts. Now, how would you implement this “social distancing set-up” of yours, DepEd?” another commented.
But the DepEd appears to have taken those into consideration as well, announcing that face-to-face learning will not be implemented this school year.
