CHR backs DepEd’s call to resume 100% in-person classes

Commission on Human Rights spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline de Guia. Image from CHR.

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has expressed its “staunch support” to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) call for schools to resume face-to-face classes in the upcoming academic year.

“CHR fully welcomes DepEd’s recent urging of schools to implement at full capacity in-person learning,” CHR Executive Director Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement on Tuesday. “Ensuring every Filipino child’s right to education grants them an opportunity to better their lives.”

The commission, however, amplified a reminder for DepEd to pursue a “steady and progressive expansion of face-to-face learning, while maintaining strict adherence to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.”

“We also recognize DepEd’s exploration of the effectiveness of blended learning setup to address parents’ hesitancy of having their children participate in in-person classes,” de Guia added.

With a new administration set to take office by the end of June, CHR renewed its call “to make accessible and quality education a priority investment.”

“May the glaring inequalities among literacy and proficiency [in] our youth that the pandemic has underlined be urgently acted on, with the education sector at the very helm,” de Guia stressed.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones on Monday urged all public and private schools to reopen in-person classes next academic year.

The education chief said around 73 percent of public schools have already returned to face-to-face classes, while only 5.47 percent of about 16,000 private schools have resumed theirs.

RELATED STORY: 

DepEd: Over 10,000 schools OK’d to resume limited in-person classes

JPV