While the Philippines is still in the middle of surging cases and suffering the economic blow of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, an advocacy group underscored the urgent need to safely reopen schools to address the ongoing learning crisis.
The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Wednesday, April 28, pointed out that while responding to the impacts of the pandemic is of utmost importance, the learning crisis that threatens the education sector should be “urgently addressed” too.
“We need an immediate response to the learning crisis in our country,” PBEd Executive Director Love Basillote said. “We call on the government to draw out measures to bring our students back to schools safely the longer we wait for our schools to open, the heavier the losses will be for our students and the economy,” she added.
PBEd also expressed support for the “ideal scenario” of the Department of Education (DepEd) for School Year (SY) 2021-2022 and that is to include the implementation of limited in-person classes.
An official of DepEd confirmed that the tentative opening of the new school year on Aug. 23 has been agreed upon by the agency’s key officials.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/27/deped-eyes-opening-of-new-sy-on-aug-23-group-bats-for-protection-of-teachers-learners/
For PBEd, the immediate and safe return of face-to-face classes “will help make up for the learning “ - especially for the “2.7 million unenrolled K to 12 students this school year.” Basillote noted around 3 million students have dropped out of school this year due to lack of resources required for distance learning.
“With no alternatives left, we are abandoning a generation of young people,” she said. “This has a grave impact on national development,” she added.
Citing DepEd data in February, PBEd noted that “more than half of Filipino students are calling for the resumption of face-to-face classes.”
In 2020, a survey of education group Aral Pilipinas also revealed that among 9,716 Filipinos, “75 percent of respondents agreed with the resumption of face-to-face classes.” Of the 7,297 who said yes to opening of schools, 53 percent believed that children learn better with face-to-face classes.
PBEd noted that most of the respondents came from poor families, “as 92 percent of them were beneficiaries” of the government’s conditional cash transfer program.