No face-to-face classes yet as school year starts

EDITORIAL

Enrollment has started in some schools for the coming school year. But as things stand now, educational institutions may still have to make do with distance or online education.
    President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected a proposal of the Dept. of Education to hold face-to-face classes in areas where Covid-19 risks are low, saying he cannot gamble on the health of children.
    During a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Duterte told Education Secretary Leonor Briones that he could not allow classes to resume unless everyone had been vaccinated.
    "Dito sa face-to-face [classes], I think I am not inclined to agree with you. I am sorry but mahirap (On face-to-face classes. I think I am not inclined to agree with you. I'm sorry, but this is hard)," he said.
    It was the third time Duterte rejected the DepEd's proposal for the conduct of face-to-face classes.
Briones told the President that she understood and accepted his decision.
    "What the executive decides, we support and we cooperate, especially on a professional matter such as this. So, we are withdrawing our request in light of your decision and we fully accept your decision," she said.
    The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) decried the President's decision.
    ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio said that there had been no significant strides in the fight against Covid-19 in the past year and that lockdowns without ample medical response expectedly failed to contain the virus.
    "Now, Covid-19 cases are on the rise again and mostly outside NCR (National Capital Region), where we could have piloted a limited run of face-to-face classes. This excessive prolonging of school lockdown is tantamount to the President's own admission of his failed vaccine program, much like the rest of his responses to Covid-19," he said.
    The group said this reflected the government's failed pandemic response, which "ties the entire education system to its equally failed remote learning program."
    "It's starting to feel like we're at the mercy of the behavior of this virus, like there's no government at all. President Duterte claims he can't gamble on the health of children, but what has he done to protect them and their rights aside from keeping them locked away in their homes? Part of ensuring the welfare of our youth is ensuring their access to quality education, what has Duterte done for education amid the pandemic? Nothing," added Basilio.
    Despite these, life goes on and parents are advised to enroll their children – distance learning or not.