The recent pronouncement of the Department of Education (DepEd) to prioritize Senior High School (SHS) students once limited face-to-face classes are allowed did not sit well with a youth group, which noted that their safety will be compromised.

The Samahan Ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), on Friday, Feb. 19, slammed DepEd for not taking into consideration the situation of Grades 11 and 12 students since there were still no measures in place that would ensure their safety.

“DepEd may have boastfully rolled out their scheme for limited face-to-face classes, but this is barely anything considering all the other safety precautions that they seem to have ignored,” SPARK said.

SPARK noted that while DepEd underscored that SHS should be  prioritized, the agency also “seems to ignore other problems” that would affect the safety of the students from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) - as well as their families and their own home environments.

The youth group pointed out that if safety measures cannot be implemented, DepEd should forget about face-to-face classes. “Senior High School students are not mere ‘lab rats’ to have their lives thrown into experiments with a high chance of failure,” SPARK said. “We deserve better,” it added.

In particular, SPARK is asking DepEd how it can ensure that students will be protected against COVID-19, considering that most schools do not have proper handwashing facilities and water supply. “How can the DepEd ensure that students will be safe from COVID-19 if most public schools lack proper clinic facilities and nurses?,” it added.

SPARK also argued how DepEd can monitor if one of its students gets infected with COVID-19 if the government has not yet properly implemented an efficient contact tracing and mass testing program.

“How can the DepEd make sure that its students will remain safe from COVID-19 if they only focus on the safety of the schools, and not the surrounding environment that students will inevitably also interact with?” SPARK asked.

To ensure safe resumption of face-to-face classes, SPARK is calling for better infrastructure and facilities in schools by allocating more budget in the retrofitting of schools and their surrounding environment to create a truly safe learning environment.

“We call for an efficient implementation of mass testing and contact tracing among Senior High School students, teachers, and other employees, as well as their prioritization for vaccination efforts,” SPARK said.

SPARK also demanded that the government should fully subsidize these, noting that “students should not have to pay for their own safety".