YESTERDAY education workers returned to public schools and offices as ordered by the Department of Education (DepEd).
Has the department built an enabling environment for safe and optimal work set up? There has been no COVID testing for returning teachers and school personnel. This lack of testing is endangering education workers in the face of the ongoing coronavirus health and socioeconomic crisis.
This failure to conduct testing is tantamount to neglect. Many teachers have already braved the threats of the pandemic since June 1 despite the agency claiming otherwise. Thousands more have started physically reporting for work yesterday, exposing themselves and their communities to the viral disease.
Education workers are not excused or exempted from the effects of the current pandemic. The still uncontained health crisis and inefficient response of the government render millions of education frontliners vulnerable to contracting the disease. On top of this, their grim economic conditions make even the alternative modes of service brandished by the government inaccessible.
The unsympathetic response of our officials to the struggles of ordinary education employees must be challenged, especially as it threatens their lives, their families and communities.
DepEd must institute safeguards and allot resources for education delivery amid the pandemic. Every day, we hear news of DepEd tapping local government units, private establishments, telecommunications partners, and even teachers’ scarce resources. The truth is, though, everybody’s tapped out. The government saw to that when it failed to cushion the effects of the pandemic over the last three months. DepEd must show rigor in ensuring that the national government grant concrete support to learning continuity, without sacrificing the health and welfare of millions.
Again, DepEd must heed the following pleas of education workers: health check and screening; mass testing of suspect cases, close COVID-19 contacts, and vulnerable populations; safe and accessible transportation; health, sanitation and disinfection of facilities, equipment, and personnel at the school level; provision of facemasks, hygiene kits, etc. medical fund for the treatment of those who will be infected with COVID-19.
