As France and South korea begins to put the COVID-19 pandemic under control, face to face classes are resuming for the first time in months, but, the Government of Philippines sees this as high risk and insist children will not be allowed back to school until a vaccine for Coronavirus is available.
President Rodrigo Duterte had last month said that even if students could not graduate, they need to stay out of school to fight the spread of the disease.
Education Secretary Leonar Briones in a statement on Monday said “we will comply with the president’s directive to postpone face-face classes until a vaccine is available”.
Briones also added that classes are to resume at the end of August and teachers will use distance learning methods via the internet or TV broadcast where needed.
With prevailing high rate of poverty in the Philippines, most of the populace does not have access to computer at home which is a major tool for effective online classes.
Briones, in a press briefing also said that, “The teacher and the school will have to adjust………… depending on the availability of communication”
Meanwhile, despite early and strict lockdown measures, hundreds of new infections are being detected daily in Philippines, but there has been public outcry opposing the postponement of face-face classes.
Over 25million primary and secondary students enrolled for online classes earlier this month for a delayed start to school year, which in the Philippines normally runs from June to April.
As scientist scientist around the world continue to race against time, in an effort to develop a vaccine, it is not yet clear when a vaccine would be proven and viable to curtail the Coronavirus Pandemic globally.
