WE’VE ALREADY allowed malls and restaurants to operate in many places, so why not the schools?
It is good that the Department of Education has approved the gradual return to face-to-face classes for school year 2022 – 2023. Classes begin on Aug. 22 still blended but gradually moving to full in-person learning by November.
This is certainly most welcome. The Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality, and Relevant (SEQuRe) Education (SEQuRe Education Movement) cited its findings on learning loss among Filipino students due to the lack of face-to-face learning. UNICEF, on the other hand, has observed the negative effects of prolonged school closure to school children across the globe.
Indeed, it is plain ridiculous for our schools to remain indefinitely closed when there have been plenty of studies and successful experiences from other countries that prove safe school reopening is not only possible, but necessary. Our youth’s future and well-being are at stake, and so is national development.
Neighboring countries in Asia such as Japan, China, Vietnam, and Indonesia — have reopened their schools in all or in targeted areas amid the pandemic. Their experiences can be used to plan for a safe and limited in-person learning in the Philippines.
School reopening shouldn’t also be solely dependent on the country’s vaccine rollout. There is a need to equip schools with safety measures and medical support for its stakeholders and to improve basic medical responses — such as mass testing, contact tracing, and faster vaccine rollout — as key factors in creating an effective plan for safe reopening of schools.
Time is of the essence, especially with the threat of severe learning loss and retrogression if school closure is further prolonged.
It has already been proven that the current distance learning set-up is not working, if not totally and merely onerous to the education sector — especially poor rural children. We must move forward and plan for better ways to cope and strive for quality education despite grueling circumstances.
