A students' group reiterated its call for the distribution of P10,000 financial aid for students struggling to study amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Student Aid Network-Intramuros, a network of 10 student organizations from different schools in Intramuros, called for "tangible help and proper usage of the trillions borrowed from banks and other countries."
"Distance learning clearly shows that students are being pushed to attend their classes without the guarantee of safe resumption of schools, as we struggle in an environment that is not meant for learning, including the high expense that come with it," the group said in a statement released July 20.
The financial aid, the students reiterated, is a "way to fix faulty gadgets and afford Internet for remote learning systems like online classes."
"Amidst an ever-worsening economic crisis, ten thousand pesos is a big deal for the regular Filipino household. It is no doubt that there are students hailing from the families of the 4.14M Filipinos unemployed as of April 2021," Student Aid Network-Intramuros stressed.
"On top of this, the demands of the educational modalities set by and in response to the pandemic had been putting more pressure on households to spend more money," it added.
The student network said the "worsening" living conditions of Filipino households and the demanding remote learning setup led to "millions of students opting out of enrollment."
According to data from DepEd, at least four million students did not enroll for the academic year 2020-221.
"We urgently call on the government to heed our demands and take urgent action to deliver aid for all students. The approval of the 10K student aid has become imperative in encouraging the Filipino youth to pursue education in the new normal."
The Emergency Student and Relief Bill seeks to institutionalize an emergency student aid and relief system during times of national emergency or crisis to assist Filipino students and youth in their expenses related to alternative modes of learning, including tuition and gadgets.
The bill also contains a one-time cash subsidy of P10,000 for each student and those who dropped out during the pandemic.