Senators seek pilot test of face-to-face classes

SENATORS urged the government to prepare for the resumption of physical classes by pilot testing face-to-face classes in areas with low Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases.

Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd and 10 other senators separately filed Senate Resolution (SR) 663 and SR 668 calling for the resumption of face-to-face classes in low-risk areas.

SR 668 seeks the immediate pilot testing of limited face-to-face classes in 1,065 public schools nationwide.

Sotto, who sponsored the resolution, said that disruptions to instructional time in the classroom “can have a severe impact on a child's ability to learn.”

“The longer marginalized children are out of school, the less likely they are to return," he pointed out.

"Distance learning has its advantages especially at a time of pandemic where health and safety are of utmost priority. However, face-to-face learning remains a necessity for education," the Senate chief said on Monday.

He added that Education Secretary Leonor Briones proposed the reopening of schools in December 2020.

"It is important to consider that not all household have the same resources and access to the internet," the senator stressed.

"When select schools have been identified for reopening, six key dimensions should be used to assess their states of readiness and inform planning: policy, financing, safe operations, learning, reaching the most marginalized and wellbeing/protection," he added.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, co-author of SR 668, said that a one-year delay in class resumption is worth two years of make-up classes.

Pangilinan earlier proposed reducing the number of pilot-test schools from 1,065 to 100 to serve as a basis of standard operating procedures and best practices before nationwide roll-out.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on basic education, culture and arts, stressed the need to gather local evidence that will give reassurance to learners, parents, and other stakeholders in the education sector despite studies abroad that showed that schools are not the source of Covid-19 outbreaks.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the return to in-person classes is possible as long as mitigation measures such as the wearing of face masks, physical distancing, and increased room ventilation, among others, are observed.

To prevent adult-to-adult transmission in schools, the senators recommended the prioritization of teachers in the vaccination rollout.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Philippines is the only country in the East and Asia Pacific Region where schools have remained closed since March 2020.