Retired teachers, education students urged to help tutor in communities

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday asked retired teachers and college education students to help tutor students in their communities as he ruled out the possibility of public schools shifting to online classes this coming school year.

Gatchalian, Senate basic education committee chair, said the budgetary constraints of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the lack of internet signal in many parts of the country would make it difficult for students in state-run schools to have web-based classes.

He earlier told reporters that providing laptops to all public school teachers was an “impossible dream.”

“I’m calling on … our retired teachers and college students enrolled in education [programs] to have their own tutoring program,” Gatchalian said in a radio interview.