'TOL VIEWS
Senator Francis N. Tolentino
On the third year of COVID-19, we come to feel strongly the economic impact of this pandemic coupled with the geopolitical tensions in Europe and China’s prolonged lockdowns.
To start with, the rising costs of fuel is a concern for businesses and consumers in terms of production and mobility. With the increasing cost of production, prices of commodities also increase. Also recently, reports on a global stagflation flood our news feeds. This stagflation – a term relatively new to most of us who are not economists – is an economic situation where a country is facing persistent high inflation, coupled with high unemployment rate and low economic output. Admirably, President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has economic recovery and growth as top priority for his first year in office.
In my column last 21 April 2022, I stated my support for the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes. Here, we analyzed how different countries reopened public schools with health and safety protocols in check. The goal is to build a more resilient education system to fast track learning recovery in the Philippines.
In a public briefing this year, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said that 73.28 percent of public schools have already resumed face-to-face classes, but only 5.47 percent of private schools have returned to the in-person mode of learning. Just recently, it was reported that our incoming Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte aims for the full return to face-to-face classes by August 2022.
Starting yesterday, June 23, fuel prices have again increased for the third straight week.
With rising costs of commodities and more importantly, transportation costs, I put forth the recalibration of face-to-face classes. The DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), and private institutions may consider shortening the period of in-person classes in a week to temporarily alleviate the costly burden of rising prices of transportation and other goods.
It is my view that this short-term solution would provide Filipinos a much-needed break from spending on exacerbated fuel costs and instead allocate those savings to food, utilities, and other basic necessities. A recalibration of face-to-face classes does not mean, however, that the pursuit of full in-person classes would forever take a back seat. It simply is a balancing of necessities given the state of the country’s economy. I have no doubt that the DepEd, CHEd, and private institutions would find ways to maximize learning for the Filipino youth in this proposed recalibration of face-to-face classes.