Don't rush face-to-face classes to avoid spike in COVID-19 cases —Año

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday expressed his opposition to calls for the resumption of face-to-face classes, saying those who propose it might not even be the ones who will be made accountable for the possible spike of COVID-19 cases when students return to classrooms.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview, Año advised not to rush the resumption of face-to-face classes considering that more than a thousand Filipinos still test positive for COVID-19 on a daily basis.

"Ang sinasabi natin, huwag na lang natin munang i-rush. Kasi ang tanong diyan, ikaw gusto mong gawin 'yan pero sino ba ang responsable diyan? Ikaw ba? Ang galing mong magrekomenda pero wala ka naman palang responsibilidad diyan," he said.

"Kung magkasakit at magkaroon ng spike, ikaw ba ang gagamot diyan, ikaw ba magsasagot ng gastos diyan? Pangalawa, sino'ng magiging accountable?" he added.

In a hearing last week, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, said he supports localized and limited face-to-face learning workshops to ease the burden of parents who are not equipped to teach their children at home.

He pointed out that massage parlors have already been opened, indicating that the situation is getting better in some areas. 

Senators Imee Marcos and Nancy Binay also stressed that cockpit arenas and tourism sites had also been reopened too.

But Año said the resumption of face-to-face classes would mean that millions of students would go out of their houses to attend physical classes — a matter that is hard to control.

"Kapag sinabi mong face-to-face na 'yung mga estudyante, you're talking of millions of students, so wala ka nang kontrol diyan kapag sinabi mong face-to-face. Kapag sinabi mo namang selected, ano naman ang criteria mo?" he said.

"Mismong Pangulo na ang nagsabi na wala munang face-to-face hanggang matapos itong December 2020. So sundin natin ang utos ng Pangulo. By January naman, marami naman tayong pagbabago diyan," he added. 

For the Department of Education (DepEd), though, the possible reintroduction of face-to-face classes in the Philippines would require a shared responsibility among various stakeholders.

"If we reintroduce it, we believe that there should be a strong agreement of shared responsibility of key stakeholders including the parents, and the local government units... because without this, the DepEd will surely be blamed solely for any incidents of exposure and infection," Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said in a Senate hearing.

"This concern is not just political on our part because it can really put at risk learning continuity altogether. In other words, it will strengthen the position and arguments of those that are advocating for academic freeze," he added.

Classes for school year 2020-2021 in public schools opened on October 5 via blended learning. Lessons may be given via online classes, or via use of printed modules, or use of TV and radio.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Tuesday said the DepEd is studying the possibility of a gradual return to face-to-face classes in 2021. —KG, GMA News