Aral Pilipinas, a group of education practitioners, parents, students, and development workers who advocate for the continuity of education in times of crises, has expressed its support to the calls of prioritizing teachers in the list to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
In a statement on Monday, March 29, Aral Pilipinas Lead Convenor Regina Sibal said that during their consultations with teachers, numerous have reported experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety due to online classes and lockdown-related concerns.
If we really are hopeful to reopen schools in August, we need to bring the subject of teachers’ well-being and safety into the spotlight… One thing is clear: teachers are frontline workers too,
Sibal explained.
She also added that neighboring countries in Southeast Asia have started vaccinating their teachers or placed them next to health workers as priority in COVID-19 vaccination.
We need to work harder to accelerate the vaccination drive and effectively mitigate the effects of COVID-19… Keeping our teachers safe and away from the virus is a step toward our goal to safely reopen schools – they have already been given multiple tasks in the pandemic and their role to shape our children’s future remains the most important,
she said.
Along with 40 organizations from the health, education, business, and public governance sectors, Aral Pilipinas issued a position paper and appealed to the government to put Filipino teachers, support staff, and school personnel in priority groups for vaccination against COVID-19.
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