by Desa A. Castillo
LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET- The Balili Elementary School showed the way how technology and the resourcefulness of school officials and teachers made a school’s opening go smoothly. Such will also make the school effective in delivering its mandate to make school kids learn what they are supposed to learn.
The school welcomed School Year 2023 to 2024 on August 29 adopting shifting schedules and the blended classes mode. Shifting–blended was implemented because of the repair of the old two plan building and the increase of the learners’ population.
The conduct of shifting-blended classes was the best solution the school came up with to address the shortage of classrooms and to reduce class sizes. In this set-up, the students are divided into two batches, morning and afternoon shifts.
Morning shift starts at as early as 6 a.m. and ends at 12 noon and the modular and online classes are conducted from 1pm to 2pm on the identified learning area. The afternoon shift starts from 12noon to 6p.m and conduct the modular and online classes from 8am to 9am.
According to the school principal, Mr. Asian S. Canuto, the arrangement is just for a short term for Grades 4 to 6 learners until December since it is expected that the repair of the building will end on December.
For the kinder to Grade 3 the shifting-blended mode will continue to be implemented until the end of the school year.
Just before the opening of the school year, the school conducted an orientation on August 28 at the Balili Elementary School quadrangle. The teachers headed by Efagenia Paing explained to the parents how the shifting-blended classes will be implemented.
Paing also mentioned that adjustments will be made by the teachers depending on the grade level and shifting schedules of the learners.
At present Balili Elementary School’s population is 1073.As aforesaid the leaners’ need to be properly taught will in part be effectively catered to through online. We might have cursed a lot during the hard lockdowns because of Covid-19 but the need for distance learning forced everybody to become tech savvy or at least internet literate. Such newly acquired capability made possible blended learning modes.
Ultimately, the moral from the challenges we faced and surmounted is, “Behind every challenge is an opportunity to progress and improve, hence we should not shy away from such.**
