Tolentino wants face-to-face classes to resume gradually in low-risk island provinces

Senator Francis Tolentino has called for the gradual resumption of face-to-face classes in low-risk island provinces in the country for the opening of school year 2021-2022 in September.

In a television interview on Tuesday, Tolentino said that provinces with low or zero COVID-19 infection rates should be allowed by the national government to resume face-to-face classes while still strictly following the existing minimum health standards.

“It should not be a total online-hybrid modality… it won’t work, it never works,” the senator told ANC.

He also said gradual face-to-face classes is already possible given that some teachers are already vaccinated against COVID-19.

The senator suggested this amid the threat of the Delta variant that is believed to be more transmissible, according to health experts.

Tolentino said the learning system should not solely rely on the current blended learning curriculum being imposed by the Department of Education (DepEd) as he believes that the distance learning modality—a combination of online and modular learning—is not effective at all because of the connectivity issues in the country’s telecommunication firms.

Tolentino also claimed that the “learning accumulation” of students “really went down” considering the questionable effectiveness of distance learning.

A recent World Bank report stated that the country’s education system is lagging and about 80% of Filipino children “do not know what they should know.” The World Bank has since apologized and took it down from its website

The DepEd has announced that classes would begin on September 13. Blended learning scheme will still be implemented for the coming school year.

The agency is waiting for the separate approval of the face-to-face classes, however, they are already preparing for it. — BM, GMA News