Senatorial candidate and incumbent Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Thursday called on local chief executives in low-risk COVID-19 areas to allow schools in their jurisdiction to resume face-to-face classes in support of the government’s target reopening of in-person classes in all levels on August.

Escudero made the call in light of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) directive to its regional offices to start the progressive expansion of in-person classes this month.

The order, however, provides that schools need to pass the School Safeety Assessment Tool (SSAT) and obtain the concurrence of the local government units (LGU) where they are located.

“We operate within a framework of shared responsibility, and it is our job as local chief executives to provide the best learning environment for our children,” Escudero said in a statement.

“They have been cooped up in front of their screens for two years. Studies have shown and we have seen that online learning is not as effective as it should be,” he added.

“Let’s start preparing our public schools to receive students again. Repair what needs to be repaired, establish health and safety protocols, coordinate with parents who might still be worried about letting their kids out. We have to work together to seamlessly and safely transition into a post-pandemic phase,” said Escudero, who is seeking a Senate comeback in the upcoming May 2022 elections.

The DepEd said there are 6,686 schools across the country that have passed the SSAT (6,586 public and 100 private schools), and more are addressing the gaps to become SSAT-compliant by the next schoolyear.

The governor, who is seeking a Senate comeback, said LGUs should ramp up the vaccination of teachers and school-age kids.

He noted that only 57 percent or 588,561 DepEd’s teaching and non-teaching personnel have been either partially or fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of October of last year.

“The World Bank recently released a study saying Filipino students are among the worst in reading, math, and science. I do not believe that’s because they are poor learners but because they have a poor learning environment and may not have the support they need to focus on their studies,” Escudero stressed.

“We have to address this crisis in education, and we can start by bringing them back to school,” Escudero said.