IF CINEMAS can be reopened, the safe return to school of students should also be ensured, right? The point here is that the government better know its priorities – in this case, the education of our youth.
Can we afford another school year of blended learning? How many students have dropped out, opted to not enroll or do not have access to quality education with the blended learning modalities provided by the Department of Education?
It is thus dismaying to hear the government talking about making guidelines for safe reopening cinemas than actually planning and preparing for the safe return of young people to school. The government should realize that the longer it settles for the challenging blended distance learning, more youth and children will be deprived of access to quality education.
The Department of Education must ensure that there are adequate facilities for the safe return to school of students and teachers. Yes, teachers and school personnel must have access to regular COVID-19 testing. They must also be provided with health kits, ensure availability of water supply in schools and provide sick leave benefits and medical check-up for teachers and other school personnel. These are the least that the Education department can do to ensure the health safety of our teachers, students and the community they belong to.
The Department of Education needs to take concrete steps and draw up policies to prepare for the safe return of teachers, staff and students to school. What happened last year should not be repeated – an Education department chasing preparations for the new school year.
We also remind the government of its promise to our teachers for a substantial salary increase within President Duterte’s term. Teachers and education support personnel have been the backbone of education continuity amid the pandemic. It is only right to demand for a substantial salary increase especially with the increasing prices of basic goods and services and the additional cost of blended distance learning modes.
The administration’s skewed budget priority has led to further neglect to the people’s right to education. The COVID-19 pandemic merely highlighted the worsening education crisis in our country with the perennial problems in education.
