'Additional disruptions' from nationwide break could see more students left behind — Gatchalian
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate education committee chairperson on Monday rejected calls for a nationwide academic break, as students call for respite amid the surge in COVID-19 cases and the return of hard lockdowns.
Students from universities within the 'NCR Plus' bubble petitioned last week for their school administrators to call off classes. It came as the said areas were placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine.
But in a statement, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said many could be left behind because of "additional disruptions" that a country-wide break could bring.
"Quarantine classifications differ and some areas are not under lockdown," he said in a statement in Filipino. "It would be hard to implement an academic freeze in a place with no COVID-19 cases. This is why we can't have [it] for everybody because their situations are not the same."
While such is true, there are also many students in areas under strict lockdowns — particularly Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan.
He added that learning losses and inequalities could be worsened by the move.
Gatchalian, however, made no mention of what students had been saying in calling for a break: that the social and emotional impacts of the pandemic in its current rate is already taking a toll on their wellbeing.
One student told Philstar.com in an exchange that they have been getting news of their peers losing relatives to COVID-19, and a break could be a time for them to recover emotionally.
Groups pin their hopes that difficulties under distance learning could be resolved by a safe return to schools. No decision, however, has been made so far by President Rodrigo Duterte even for a pilot test in areas at lower risk from COVID-19.
The current picture of the crisis makes it unlikely that physical classes would return any time soon, Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers' party-list) said in March.
Several universities have heeded students' calls for a break as ECQ restrictions stretched to two weeks. But with NCR Plus transitioning to Modified ECQ, classes are now seen to resume soon. — Christian Deiparine
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