(File) DISTANCE LEARNING- Grade 10 student Jason Solis with his cousin John Matthew, an incoming 8-grade student attend orientation on the first day of class via online in their home in Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — An extension of the school year will be an extension of suffering for learners, teachers, and parents, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said Thursday.
Castro made the remark after the Department of Education (DepEd) extended the school year for basic education to July 10, 2021. The school year was originally scheduled to end in June.
“Extending the school year without addressing the basic problems of the Duterte administration’s distance learning program would only extend the suffering and hardships of teachers, learners, and their parents,” Castro said in a statement.
“If the DepEd genuinely wants to give learners academic ease, it would have provided adequate learning materials and prepared a curriculum that is appropriate for blended distance learning,” the teacher-lawmaker added.
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Castro added that DepEd should listen first to its stakeholders before implementing policies that are “not appropriate” to the situation.
She said the national government should have a clear plan for the safe conduct of limited and voluntary in-person learning in low-risk areas and provide the education department adequate supplemental budget to provide for all teaching and learning resources needed in distance learning.
Further, Castro said the national government should also ensure the provision of health protection and payment of just benefits to education workers.
Castro said if the government would fail to make these “concrete” steps in the education sector, “there would be no genuine academic ease.”