PH Gov’t Should Prioritize 100% Return of Face-to-Face Classes

With the COVID-19 pandemic still ruling our lives, several companies have shifted to permanent work-from-home set-ups, while some have opted for hybrid set-ups, while others fully returning to on-site working.

Despite the economy opening up as well as other countries easing restrictions for travel, schools in the Philippines are still in limbo and have yet to achieve normalcy or a permanent setup. Compared to other countries around the world, the Philippines lags and have not fully opened schools since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.

As of writing, the schools in the Philippines are either using an online or hybrid setup. The 100% full return to class is yet to be implemented.

Aral Pilipinas, which is an organization that advocates for continued education in times of crisis, expressed its support for the full return of face-to-face classes in the incoming academic year last June 2022.

This group also cited DepEd’s May data saying that from the 60,473 schools, only 26,344 are holding in-person classes. It’s important to note that these classes are also limited depending on the size of the classroom and the number of students it can accommodate.

If children and their families are allowed to go out of the country and out of town for vacations and family trips, they should fully be allowed to go back to school.

There is supporting data from the World Bank that reports the Philippines’ learning-adjusted years of school (LAYS) proficiency would be pushed back from 7.5 years before the pandemic, to 5.9 to 6.5 years, depending on the effectiveness of remote learning and the longer the schools remain closed.

To translate, the Philippines has a basic education system of 12 years of instruction or K-12 and with the closure of the schools and the pandemic, the proficiency of our Filipino students would only translate to about six years spent in school.

Unicef Executive Director, Catherine Russell, has said “This rising inequality in access to learning means that education risks becoming the greatest divider, not the greatest equalizer. When the world fails to educate its children, we all suffer,”

In our country where thousands live below the poverty line, education could be their means of bettering their future.

With the incoming head of the Department of Education being VP Sara Duterte, the 100% full return of face-to-face classes must be a top priority for the sake of our students and the future of our country.

Sources: Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Rappler,