Sen. Bong Go appeals for posponement of school opening

On Thursday, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go said the opening of classes should be rescheduled to October to ensure stakeholders' safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic and their readiness to use alternative learning platforms. Go said in a statement,

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Umaapela ako sa Executive branch na kung maaari ay i-postpone muna ng ilan pang buwan ang pagbubukas ng klase habang wala pang bakuna sa COVID-19. Huwag nating isugal ang buhay at kaligtasan ng ating mga kabataan,

[I'm appealing to the Executive branch that if possible, opening of classes be postoned for a few months while there's still no vaccine for Covid-19. Let's not put our youth's life and safety in danger.]

He added that this deferment would buy students, teachers, and parents a little more time to adjust to distance learning.

He said that everyone is having hard time with the transition of alternative modes like online transaction and online learning. Even internet connections are unreliable, while the offline modes are still undertaken. He added,

Kung hindi pa handa, huwag nating pilitin. Magiging kawawa ang mga estudyante, kawawa ang mga teachers. Hirap na po ang mga Pilipino, huwag na nating dagdagan pa ng pressure ang mga bata at mga magulang nila,"

[If things are not yet ready, let's not force it. Students and teachers are pitiful. Filipinos are a having hard time, let us not add more burden and pressure to the student and their parents.]

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Francis Tolentino, on the other hand, called for the postponement of the opening of classes only in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Due to the health crisis, the government has delayed the school opening for three months and prohibited face-to-face learning. Public and private schools were instructed to use various alternative learning modalities and set to start on August 24.

According to DepEd on Wednesday, almost four in every 10 school division offices (SDOs) in the Philippines have completed printing more than 50% of the self-learning modules for the first quarter of School Year 2020-2021.