Perspectives of Senior High School Students, Parents, and Personnel on the School Health Protocols During Face-to-face Classes

Abstract

After two years under the Online Distance Learning modality in the Philippines, students are finally returning to schools amidst the pandemic, and schools have implemented protocols to ensure the safety of learners. With face-to-face gradually being implemented in SMCQC, the school's protocols must be effective. This research aims to find out the perceived effectiveness of the protocols. This study focused on the various health protocols implemented in St. Mary’s College Quezon City during the return to face-to-face and hybrid learning for the school year 2022-2023 in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted through interviews with six informants chosen by the researchers through purposive sampling, specifically two students, two personnel, and two parents of the SMCQC community. The researchers had the following criteria: The informants must have experienced COVID-19 during the school year, whether close contact or a confirmed positive case. The informants must also be in the Senior High School area, such as students in Grades 11 to 12, or closely involved with the SHS, such as parents and personnel. The study found that the informants mostly had a positive outlook on school health protocols. All the informants gained access to the information regarding the protocols in many ways, leaving none of them unaware of the situation and guidelines applied. One issue involved was upholding the protocols through the Health Declaration Survey, which personnel struggled to track and informants needing help complying with. Overall, The informants expressed that the health protocols made SMCQC safer and felt that most measures implemented effectively dealt with the pandemic. The guidelines SMCQC implemented were deemed to effectively respond to the pandemic, making the school a safer learning environment. A study before this found concerned parents on face-to-face modality’s safety, contrasting this study’s result of positive feedback from parents who have experienced it. A limitation found in the study noted having a small sample size. Future research on the topic could reach out to more informants, especially to other grade levels, once they also partake in the modality.