Current Situation:
As of July 11, 2021, 8.81% of Filipinos have been vaccinated with their first dosage of the COVID vaccine and 3.2% have been fully vaccinated. As people continue to receive inoculations for the COVID vaccine, restrictions on quarantine have also started to ease.
In Metro Manila, curfew is now from midnight to 4 am. Restaurants, barber shops, and salons can fill half their indoor space, up from just 30 percent before. Office buildings may also reopen, but only with half their workforce onsite. This easing of the quarantine also extends to the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Puyat expects that the Philippines will reopen its tourism industry again soon and start to allow tourists from abroad who have been fully vaccinated into the country.
Metro Manila also now accounts for just 27 percent of new COVID cases, which is a noticeable improvement from the 94 percent during the peak of a surge back in the week of March 29 to April 4.
Online Learning in the Philippines
In a recent interview with “GovInsider”, DepEd’s ICT Service Director Aida Yuvienco said that only 26 percent of public schools in the country have internet access, and almost 5,000 public schools in distant areas don’t even have access to electricity.
A online survey was managed from November to December 2020 by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality, and Relevant Education (SEQuRe Education Movement). Its respondents consisted of 1,395 instructors, 1,207 guardians, and 620 students from grades 4 to 12.
The outcome of the survey showed that 70.9 percent of the instructors are unsure that the requirements set by the Department of Education (DepEd) for distance learning are met. Meanwhile, 53 percent of the students are uncertain if they can learn with the lessons set by DepEd through distance learning, while just 42.7 percent of guardians are confident that their children can comprehend their lessons well.
Should classes reopen?
The Asian Development Bank said there should be a consideration regarding the return to school as online learning isn’t as effective as face-to-face classes and can cause learning misfortunes and hinder future employment opportunities.
Philippine classrooms have been closed for students since March 2020 when the first neighborhood transmission of COVID-19 was confirmed in Metro Manila. Returning to face-to-face classes should be considered in regions where local transmission has been somewhat low. Recently, the public authority has permitted the resumption of restricted face-to-face learning for college students in the clinical field.
Will Classes Reopen?
Education Secretary Leonor Briones suggested returning face-to-face classes in the country on January 18, 2021. However, on February 22, 2021, Duterte dismissed this when the more contagious UK COVID-19 variant arrived in the Philippines, with 223 cases as of March 20, 2021.
Considering the development of infectious variations of COVID-19 in the country, the Department of Education (DepEd) agreed to follow the decision of the President to delay the execution of restricted face-to-face classes in generally safe regions. Thus, upgraded blended learning will continue being carried out.
On Wednesday, June 23, 2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) mentioned that three dates had been suggested to President Rodrigo Duterte for the launch of the school year 2021-2022. The dates currently being observed are August 23, September 6, or September 13.
On July 16, 2021, the DepEd announced President Duterte’s approval of the launch of the school year 2021-2022 on September 13. The school calendar for the upcoming school year has yet to be released.
In the meantime, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has already approved limited face-to-face classes on medical-related courses at 93 higher educational institutions (HEIs) in 14 regions.
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