GROUPS URGE VACCINATION OF TEACHERS
This will increase confidence to open schools, say education groups
ACALL was made to categorise teachers as priority for Covid-19 vaccination as they should be considered as frontline personnel in an essential sector.
The call was made by more than 30 organisations in the education and development sectors that recently presented a proposal to the government, according to the Philstar.com portal.
“While teachers are at an average risk level of Covid-19 infection, vaccinating them increases confidence to open schools,” the groups said.
Schools remain closed, affecting more than 38 million people.
The groups urged for teachers to be put under the A4 National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group Resolution 1, from B1.
The groups said the A4 priority should also be revised to cover “frontline personnel (nonhealth) in essential sectors: first responders (firefighters, police) and those who work in the education sector (teachers, support staff, daycare workers)”.
“We estimate that around 1.3 million teachers and teaching support staff should be vaccinated.”
The number covers the public and private sectors in the basic, tertiary, and technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Of the total, 1.18 million are basic education teachers, 137,000 are tertiary faculty and 11,000 are TVET trainers.
The groups said learning had regressed, with around 2.7 million elementary students not enrolled in the current school year.
There is no clear plan on when schools would be allowed to reopen for face-to-face classes.
Among the groups that submitted the proposal include the Action for Economic Reforms; Advocates of Inclusion; Angat Bayi; Aral Pilipinas; ASA Philippines Foundation; Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Center; Ateneo Centre for Educational Development; Coalition for Better Education; De La
Salle Philippines; and Dualtech Training Center Foundation Inc.
In Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Singapore have started the vaccination of teachers, while Cambodia has put teachers next in the priority list after health workers.
The groups added that international organisations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, had recommended countries to prioritise teachers in the vaccination.