FACE-to-faces classes soon? If this can be done safely, why not?
Health secretary and IATF head Francisco Duque reportedly said “enough number of participating teachers” must be inoculated for a locality to be allowed to hold physical classes.
But there is no dedicated national immunization program for teachers and students and the rate of the country’s vaccination program remains dismal. What does the IATF mean when they say “enough” teachers must be vaccinated when, in the first place, there aren’t even enough vaccines in the country?
Just this month, several National Capital Region cities that got most of the stocks have had to halt their first dose roll out due to insufficient supply from the national government. Supplies in provinces outside of Metro Manila are even worse. We’re already on the second half of the year but so far we’ve only fully inoculated 3.2% of the population — a far cry from our 50–70% target by the end of the year.
Vaccine czar Galvez admitted a delay in the supply of vaccines but announced the arrival of more stocks in the coming months. However, these may not come in time for the Sept. 13 opening of classes.
If the government wants to make vaccination a pre-requisite to resumption of face-to-face classes, it must institute a national program for immunizing teachers and students. These must be done before school opening. We already have one of the longest school lockdowns in the world, education access and quality have suffered too much in the last year.
While education workers’ clamor has resulted in their A4 priority status in the country’s vax program, the lack of vaccines remain to be the biggest hurdle to their immediate inoculation. There is a need for a more efficient vaccination program through the hastened procurement of vaccines, additional funding for more supplies, and quicker roll outs.
In the absence of these measures, however, such requisites are too high for a limited run of face-to-face classes. Many countries have physically reopened their schools long before vaccines became available. So instead of holding education hostage by tying it to the still unreliable and frankly slacking vax program, the government must implement concrete steps to enable our safe return to schools.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers forwards a different set of minimum requirements to enable localities to hold face-to-face classes: low-risk for COVID-19 spread (i.e., with zero or minimal number of cases); readiness of school facilities to enable implementation of health protocols; and health care capacity of areas to respond to and manage surges.
It must be emphasized, however, that the fulfillment of these requisites is first and foremost the responsibility of the national government. These require significantly more budget to go to education to ensure school safety and health protection and benefits for education frontliners, as well as more fund support to LGUs in order for them to boost their capacities to detect and treat COVID-19 cases.
