Sen. Gatchalian urges gov't to assure students won't drop out from school in 2021

On Monday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the government to “use every arsenal” to make sure that students won't regress in education or drop out from school in 2021 as in-person classes remain suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Duterte suspends the pilot in-person classes scheduled on January due to the new Covid-19 variant, which experts have said could be more contagious.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate committee on basic education, said 2021 “will be a challenging year for both our learners and our teachers in light of the absence of face-to-face classes.” 

Government has to use every arsenal it has to make sure that our learners will not regress, or worse, drop out of school completely,

he said in a statement. 

Challenges in the new learning method, such as access to stable internet connection and gadget availability to name a few, is therefore feared to continue with the recent pronouncement. 

He said Congress has equipped the DepEd with COVID-mitigating items in the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 which they can use to lessen the challenges in online and modular learning. 

They should implement those items as soon as possible,

he said. 

Meanwhile, the Dignity Coalition Chairperson Benjo Basas said the number of students who participate in distance learning has declined. 

Nakikita po namin na bumababa ang bilang ng mga bata dun sa participation, both in modular and online mode. Kung dati, out of 40 na estudyante, may uma-attend pa na hanggang 30 ang maximum, ngayon bumaba na po talaga. ‘Di na po ‘yan nangangalahati,

Basas said. 

Basas said his group welcomed the cancellation of the dry run, saying it would only put teachers and students in danger.