Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte reminded teachers to focus on teaching academics to keep up with the learning losses brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Duterte said this as she visited Don Pedro Vasquez Memorial School in Guimaras on Thursday, August 25, for the opening week of face-to-face classes two years after the country resorted to online learning due to the health crisis.
During her visit, the Vice President checked up on the teachers and reminded them to focus on academics.
"Kailangan nakatutok tayo sa academics ng ating mga estudyante to catch up on the learning losses during the two years na hindi sila nakapag-in-person classes (We need to focus on the students' academics to catch up on the losses during the two years that they weren't in classrooms)," she said.
"Meron talagang kaibahan ang pure online na klase at yung merong in-person classes para sa ating mga learners (There really is a difference between pure online crisis and in-person classes for the students)," she noted.
No extracurriculars
Duterte also said some traditional school activities would not push through this year as the Department of Education (DepEd) 's direction is to prioritize students' academic development. This includes the annual Palarong Pambansa and other extracurricular activities.
"Ngayong taon po wala tayong Palarong Pambansa pero sa susunod na taon gumagawa sila ng draft proposal para sa Palarong Pambansa (We won't have the Palarong Pambansa this year but they're drafting a proposal to have it next year)," she said.
"Meron tayong ilalabas na department order na nagsasabing dapat co-curricular at academic activities lang ang gagawin this school year. So ang mga extracurricular activities ay ipinagbabawal po natin (We will issue a department order stating that we are only allowing co-curricular and academic activities this school year. We're not allowing extracurricular activities)," she added.
The Vice President said the yet-to-be-released order would specify standards of school activities allowed for this school year.