SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian stressed the need for continued vigilance as more schools started holding physical classes on Monday, December 6, 2021.

The chairman of the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture said that expanding the pilot run of in-person learning should go hand-in-hand with accelerated vaccination of teachers and eligible learners, sustained implementation of health protocols and regular Covid19 testing for teachers.

On Monday, 177 more schools joined the pilot run of limited in-person learning, including 28 schools in the National Capital Region.

“Magandang balita ang pagpapalawig ng dry run ng limited face-to-face classes ngunit dapat ipagpatuloy natin ang pag-iingat at pagpapabakuna, lalo na’t hinaharap natin ang banta ng Omicron variant,” Gatchalian said.

“Gamitin natin ang pagkakataong mayroon tayo upang matuto kung paano natin matitiyak ang ligtas na pagbabalik ng mga kabataan sa mga paaralan,” he added.

The senator thanked the teachers, personnel, and school officials who led the preparations for in-person classes.

“Nagpapasalamat at nagbibigay pugay po ako sa mga guro, mga non-teaching staff, mga school officials, supervisors, at superintendents para sa kanilang patuloy na dedikasyon. Simula noong sumiklab ang pandemya hanggang sa unti-unting pagbubukas ng ating mga paaralan, ang ating mga education frontliners ang nanguna sa pagpapatuloy ng edukasyon,” Gatchalian said.