Senate President Vicente Sotto III would pass a resolution on Monday urging the executive department to resume face-to-face classes in areas where there are few or no COVID-19 cases.

In a statement, Sotto said that this would allow the country’s educational system to catch up with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

He said the “Philippines is still lagging behind using the blended learning method, which to many is not an effective means due to lack of access to internet and gadgets by majority of pupils and students.”

He cited the country’s “poor performance” as shown in the results from the National Achievement Test (NAT), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), and Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM).

Sotto recognizes the health risks and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but he emphasized that “future” of the students cannot be sacrificed.

Sotto cited government data where it indicated that there are 433 cities and municipalities nationwide that do not have any COVID-29 cases.

He added local school boards must be authorized to assess and recommend whether to reopen or lockdown schools and allow physical classes to resume in their respective jurisdictions.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced on February 22 that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has rejected proposals for face-to-face classes to resume with the absence of a vaccine against COVID-19.

However, Roque said that Duterte is open to resuming it in areas with low cases in August, if the vaccination program, which the government expects to start this month, is implemented as planned. (ES)

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