Philippine lawmaker challenges nationwide academic break

MANILA: A lawmaker has taken a stand against the proposal to impose a nationwide academic break, insisting that the decision should be left to basic education and higher education institutions.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian voiced his disagreement to the proposal made in response to the worrying increase in Covid-19 cases, according to the Philstar.com portal.

Gatchalian said poor and vulnerable learners would be left behind because of the additional disruptions that a nationwide academic break would bring.

He warned of effects linked to prolonged school closures such as learning loss, widening inequalities and increased exposure to violence, among others.

“I don’t agree with the call to implement a nationwide academic break. Quarantine qualifications vary and there are areas not under a lockdown.

“It is difficult to academically freeze an area without a Covid-19 case. So, there can’t be an academic freeze for the general public because the situation is different.

“On basic education, children have not gone to school in a year, and if they continue to be on break and don’t study, they can forget what they learned,” Gatchalian said.

Several colleges and universities in the National Capital Region-Plus (NCR-Plus) area, which includes Metro Manila and four provinces, have suspended classes or implemented academic ease measures due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

These include the University of Santo Tomas, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Cavite State University and De La Salle University.

Gatchalian stressed that while the NCR-Plus has now been placed under modified enhanced community quarantine until the end of the month, he pointed out that most of the country is under general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ — where distance or flexible learning may still continue.

In Isabela, which is under GCQ, the Department of Education (DepEd) suspended the distribution and retrieval of self-learning modules and other face-to-face activities after five DepEd personnel recently died due to Covid-19.

Teachers in the division are expected to remotely continue their follow-ups and monitoring of students.