Teachers’ group: Gov’t efforts on full F2F classes ‘half-baked’

MANILA — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said the government’s efforts in implementing full faceto-face (F2F) classes have been “half-baked,” citing reports received from teachers nationwide.

In a statement, the ACT said it has received at least 85 reports on severe classroom shortages, “forcing schools to hold classes even in hallways, bleachers, stage, tents, and halved classrooms.”

The group said it received 101 reports on lacking school furniture and 120 reports on inadequate books and modules.

Meanwhile, the most number of reports, at 167, were the excessive workload of teachers, while 161 reports accounted for the severity of learning gaps and difficulties in learning recovery.

Ninety-four percent of the public schools in the National Capital Region resumed the conduct of five-day in-person classes on November 2, more than two years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If our government officials think that learning gaps can be automatically be addressed once the students set foot in school, they are wrong,” the group’s chairperson Vladimir Quetua said in a statement.

“How to actually bridge the learning gaps without a sound and evidence-based education recovery program and in a less than ideal setting is a monumental challenge that teachers are left to tackle, while they themselves have been loaded with more teaching and ancillary duties,” Quetua said.

The teachers’ group then called for long-term solutions.

“Kailangan ng mga agaran at malalaking pagbabago sa edukasyon para hindi masayang ang school year na ito, at hindi makadagdag pa sa learning crisis,” he said.

Among the group’s proposals are concrete and long-term plans and solutions to resolve the 167,000 shortage in classrooms; the hiring of at least 147,000 new teachers to lower the class size to 35 students; and employing in each school a nurse, a guidance counselor, a property custodian, a librarian, a security guard and a registrar to free teachers of ancillary duties.

It also sought to reduce the workload of teachers, lowering the required teaching time to four hours a day to make enough time for lesson preparation and other teaching-related tasks, and do away with excessive paperwork and reports.

The group asked to increase the teachers’ salaries with timely benefits, including the provision of laptops and internet support to teachers.

“Sound and effective education recovery program based on an objective assessment of the current proficiency of learners, and overhaul the K-12 program to decongest the curriculum and focus on the fundamentals,” it added.

GMA News Online has sought comment from the Department of Education (DepEd).

Meanwhile, the Commission on Higher Education has also instructed higher education institutions to adopt full F2F classes or offer hybrid learning for the second semester of the academic year 2022 to 2023.

Students and teachers attending F2F classes may also now opt to remove their face masks even in classrooms, as the DepEd confirmed earlier this week that they will abide by the existing national policy allowing optional masking indoors and outdoors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.