Gatchalian opens virtual inquiry on impact of COVID-19 to Philippines' education system

The Senate committee on education on Thursday opened a public hearing on the impact of COVID-19 to the country’s education system and the adjustments that have to be adopted to ensure learning continuity and safety of stakeholders.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called for such an inquiry by filing Senate Resolution No. 391. Bills seeking to allow the deferment of the opening of classes beyond August, filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senator Joel Villanueva, and Senator Francis Tolentino amid the pandemic, will also be tackled.

The panel’s virtual hearing—also focused on exploring the possibility of distance learning—is attended by representatives from the Department of Education, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Public and private school associations and other stakeholders in the academe were also invited.

The DepEd already announced that the upcoming school year will start on August 24, also allowing private schools to open as early as June, given that no "face-to-face" learning will be conducted earlier than the set date in August.

However, Sotto said the Republic Act No. 7977 or the Act on Lengthening of School Calendar still has to be amended for contingency purposes.

The said provision in the existing law states that the "school year shall start on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August."

"If August [ang pasukan], we don't need the law di ba pero what if there is a second wave [of COVID-19 transmission]? Paano kung may second wave? Paano sasagutin ng DepEd 'yan? They will be violating the law dahil ia-adjust nila," he previously said.

Due to the virus that has now infected over 11,000 in the Philippines, the education sector has been forced to shift to online platforms and home-based learning towards the end of School Year 2019-2020.—AOL, GMA News