Robredo pushes for in-person classes in COVID-19 low-risk areas

MANILA, Philippines — As the country’s public school system began its distance and blended learning system on Monday, Vice President Leni Robredo again urged the Department of Education to consider in-person classes in areas where there were no more coronavirus community transmissions.

This developed as her office fielded concerns from teachers worried about the immense, often expensive, workload brought about by online classes.

In her weekly Sunday talk show, Robredo said it was possible for some areas with no community transmissions to hold in-person classes at least twice a week to accommodate core competencies like reading, math and science.

Based on Department of Health data, she said, around 400 areas across the country fit the bill.

“So maybe it would be easier for them to devise a design for face-to-face classes, even if not every day, so long as there are students who go to class,” she said.

Robredo noted that several teachers still had no access to gadgets or stable internet signal. This means that most of the 24 million public school students will opt for modular instructions. INQ