Emergency plan a must to address distance learning woes, says lawmaker

(INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros is pushing for the declaration of an “educational crisis” and the implementation of a targeted emergency plan due to the challenges and difficulties of the distance learning system.

Under Senate Resolution No. 901, Hontiveros urged the executive branch to declare an education crisis and called on the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to implement a targeted emergency plan to address it.

Hontiveros said the emergency plan should focus on the “safe and careful reopening of schools in selected areas, effective utilization of the country’s education budget, and provision of necessary mental health services for students and other academic sectors.”

“On this first day of classes for many, I stand with these youth and student groups in calling for the declaration of an education crisis and the implementation of an emergency plan that will address the unjust health risks and the financial burdens of an ineffective and inaccessible distance learning education in the pandemic,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros  (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)

“Labanan na lang ba ng internet connection ang education ng mga anak natin? (Is the education of our children just a battle of internet connection?) We deserve better than that,” she added.

Hontiveros said that distance learning policies have caused “incredible stress” on students and their families as they cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

In some cases, Hontiveros said the stress has led to students taking their own lives.

“We are facing a massive catastrophe within this pandemic, which if we allow it to, will have long term consequences that will remain, making the gap wider and wider with each generation,” Hontiveros said.

“Wag nating pabayaan ang kinabukasan ng mga anak natin ngayon at sa mga susunod na henerasyon. No one gets left behind,” she added.

(Let us not disregard the future of our children today and the next generation.)

In the resolution, Hontiveros underscored the importance of also addressing the mental health concerns of students as well as teachers and other members of the education sector.

“In order to address the mental health concerns of students and other academic sectors, the local government units and national government agencies must address the root of the problem: the inexcusable conditions and circumstances that have pushed them to their limits, such as the lack of additional support for academically struggling students, the seemingly insurmountable digital divide between the rich and the poor, the haphazard implementation of distance learning, and the financial burden demanded by online learning,” Hontiveros said.

DepEd said a total of 24,603,822 learners have enroled for school year 2021-22 which kicked off on Monday. This year’s enrolment is less than last year’s 26,227,022 enrolees.

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