Parents, teachers, and rights groups staged protests on September 13, Monday, as the majority of public schools reopen classes for the second year of remote learning.
A “sunrise protest” was conducted in Mendiola, Manila as they clamored for assistance from the Philippine government. They lamented that they have been primarily funding their internet and gadget expenses. Teachers and parents alike also asserted demands for a “clear roadmap toward the safe reopening of face-to-face classes” in front of the Pres. Corazon C. Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City.
As the education sector enters its second year in remote learning, the enrolment rate continues to drop and more teachers struggle to keep up with the demands of online learning. In a recent report by the Department of Education (DepEd), the number of registered students in public schools dropped to 22 million from a 26.3 million count last year.
Teachers addressed their concerns on their access to materials and feasibility in holding online classes. Some reported not to have received the modules from DepEd while others struggle to make their teaching methods accessible and easily comprehensible to the students. They demanded that their P1,500 worth of communication allowances be provided to them.
The DepEd requested P15.1 billion worth of funds in the 2022 national budget for the production of self-learning modules (SLMs). However, in the recent Commission on Audit (COA) report, DepEd has incurred around P8 billion misused funds supposedly for their Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) which allots funds for the procurement and delivery of SLMs.
Meanwhile, P1.3 billion was cut from the University of the Philippines’ (UP) budget, hampering regularization of employees, improvement of the Philippine General Hospital’s (PGH) facilities, and better provision of services to both students and faculty. Additionally, in the budget deliberation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) last September 9, financial aid for students was not included as CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera regarded it as distributed under the Bayanihan Act 3. The majority of the commission’s funds are also tagged as For Later Releases (FLR).
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that only the Philippines and Venezuela have not attempted to conduct partial or full school reopening since the start of the pandemic. Despite overt unpreparedness, the DepEd is planning to test 100 public and 20 private schools for limited in-person classes in “low-risk areas.”
“Let our classes begin. Let us celebrate victory. Let us celebrate success,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones stated in the “OBE: Bayanihan para sa Ligtas na Balik Eskwela” program. Last year, Briones also regarded the opening of classes as a supposed success despite news reports of declining enrolment rates and difficulties in adjusting to the online set-up.
Students, teachers, and other sectors intensify their calls for the safe reopening of classes, especially with the increasing number of youth unable to access quality education, while also echoing demands for vaccine roll-outs, effective contact tracing and mass testing, and financial aid provision to the masses.
As of September 12, Sunday, the Philippines has tallied 181,951 active cases in a day, totaling 2.2 million confirmed COVID cases.
Featured image courtesy of Rappler.
