LGUs urged: Let schools hold face-to-face classes

MANILA, Philippines — With the continued decline in COVID-19 cases and the easing of pandemic-related restrictions nationwide, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged yesterday local government units (LGUs) to allow schools in their areas to conduct limited face-to-face classes.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on basic education, arts and culture, has been pushing for the opening of all schools for limited face-to-face classes, citing both economic benefits and the urgency of addressing the impact of prolonged school closures.

He noted there are schools that have not resumed face-to-face classes as they are still waiting for the concurrence of their respective LGUs.

“Now that we’re opening up the economy, we should also not delay the holding of limited face-to-face classes in all our schools. My call to LGUs: allow our schools to hold limited face-to-face classes so the recovery of our education sector can start,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.

There are 6,406 schools, including 130 private schools, conducting limited face-to-face classes as of March 5. Under the Progressive Expansion phase of limited face-to-face classes, which started last February, 6,641 schools were nominated to conduct in-person classes. These schools have passed the School Safety Assessment Tool.

Out of these nominated schools, 6,122 or 92 percent are already conducting limited face-to-face classes, while 519 or eight percent have not yet started the same, the senator said.

With 39 areas, including the National Capital Region, under Alert Level 1 and the rest of the country under Alert Level 2, he said restrictions on holding limited face-to-face classes should be eased.

He said millions of learners have yet to return to school since face-to-face classes were suspended in March 2020. As of March 5, there are 908,751 learners participating in limited face-to-face classes. There are 27.41 million learners enrolled in the basic education system for school year 2021-2022.

The National Economic and Development Authority earlier said the expansion of face-to-face classes will add P12 billion per week to the economy.

The additional economic output would come from the resumption of business and services around schools like transportation, dormitories, food stalls, and the sale of school materials, it said.