THE DEBATE is still on, meaning there is no clear cut official statement from the government as to whether the schools will open or not because of the serious threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes there have been pronouncements from the Department of Education that schools are scheduled to open on Aug. 24 which will mark the official start of school year 2020-21.
The Department of Education based that pronouncement on Republic Act (RA) No. 7977 or “An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from Two Hundred (200) days to not more than Two Hundred Twenty (220) Class Days.” RA 7977 orders schools to start on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August.
It is still almost three months to go till that date for school opening and so many things can happen till then i.e. COVID-19 might just disappear naturally or a successful vaccine produced.
But the question still on everyone’s minds, particularly the parents of schoolchildren and President Rodrigo Duterte: what if COVID-19 is still there and no successful vaccine has been developed and mass produced?
Are we going to put the safety and lives of the schoolchildren at risk and go ahead with the opening of schools?
In some countries like France, Israel and Denmark, they noticed a significant spike in COVID-19 positive cases mostly among schoolchildren when they allowed schools to open.
President Rodrigo Duterte is not in favor of schools opened and that view is also shared with the top leaders of Iloilo province and city.
Excerpts from the June 4, 2020 issue of Panay News:
Duterte shares Iloilo dads’ concern on school opening
This city’s Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo province’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s similar concern over the safety of students’ vis-à-vis the opening of schools, and agreed with his position on the matter.
“I will not allow the opening of classes na magdikit-dikit ang mga bata,” said Duterte in a public address late Monday night last week.
The Department of Education (DepEd) set the opening of school year 2020-2021 on Aug. 24, 2020 while the end of the school year will be on April 30, 2021.
“During these times, we only have to take care of two things. One, the containment of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Two, the economy. All our resources, all our time should be focused on these. All the things we can forego for 2020 we should forego,” said Defensor.
While the opening of schools could rev up the economy, Defensor said, “it is not worth the risk.”
President Duterte said it was “useless” to talk about the opening of classes, particularly holding it face-to-face, without a vaccine because it would endanger the lives of students.
Allowing students to return to school without getting vaccinated would “spell disaster”, he said.
For his part, Mayor Treñas lauded the President for having a similar concern with parents.
“I have been receiving a lot of messages through my cellphone and Facebook page nga ang mga ginikanan nakulbaan,” said Treñas.
The funny thing there is that day President Rodrigo Duterte said he is against the opening of schools; here comes Health secretary Francisco Duque saying it is safe to open schools only to retract it less than 24 hours after.
Then again we should not be surprised as Duque is known for his incompetence and conflicting priorities.
There have been calls from concerned groups for his resignation and there have been some signs that this may happen soon, hopefully over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Education secretary Leonor Briones still wants to go ahead with the Aug. 24 opening for school year 2020-2021 and she offers alternative methods of learning (the most viable and widely accepted is online schooling). This will fulfill the no face-to-face physical contact classroom between learners and teachers and eliminate the transmission of COVID-19.
Although this seems simple enough as all that is needed are a steady and reliable internet connection, a laptop, PC, tablet or smart phone, the question is: are all these readily available to teachers and learners throughout the entire archipelago?
For most private schools, particularly the ones whose majority of learners belongs to the middle and upper class, this online schooling presents just a minor adjustment and in fact most of them have already made the adjustments and are ready to begin as soon as school opens on Aug. 24.
But what about public schools where the majority of learners belong and mostly are in the lower middle and lower class?
For the Department of Education to open schools on Aug. 24 using the online schooling program, this is where they should devote all their resources and creativity, seeing to it that all learners and teachers have the necessary requirements for a successful online schooling.
With the approval on the third and final reading of House Bill 6895 amending Section 3 of Republic Act 779, empowering the President to set a different date for the start of the school year nationwide or in parts of the country.
Maybe we should just cancel school year 2020-21 to save our children./PN
