#Filipino #classrooms #reopening #years
Millions of children in the Philippines returned to school as the school year began Monday, and many took their seats in classrooms for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Philippines is one of the last countries in the world to resume full-time in-person teaching – sparking warnings that the ongoing classroom closures have worsened an education crisis in the country.
Children in masks and uniforms queued for a temperature check and a squirt of hand sanitizer at Manila’s Pedro Guevara Elementary School, which had closed classrooms since March 2020.
The school has adopted a hybrid system of in-person and distance learning as it transitions its nearly 6,000 students back to face-to-face classes by November — a deadline set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shortly after taking office two months ago.
Sixth grade student Sophia Macahilig said she was “excited” to meet her classmates and teachers after two years of Zoom classes.
“We used to have fun and now I can have fun again,” 11-year-old Macahilig told AFP.
But many students have some catching up to do.
Even before the pandemic, nine out of 10 Filipino children as young as 10 “couldn’t read simple text with comprehension,” the World Bank and other agencies said in a recent report.
Only 10 countries fared worse, including Afghanistan, Laos, Chad and Yemen.
– Development lag –
Following the closure of Filipino schools, a blended learning program was introduced that includes online classes, printed materials, and classes broadcast on television and social media.
As face-to-face classes resume, old problems remain: large class sizes, outdated teaching methods, poverty and lack of basic infrastructure – such as toilets – have been blamed for contributing to the education crisis.
Pedro Guevara science teacher Ethel Tumanan, 32, said she was concerned students had missed out on valuable learning over the past two years.
“We as teachers prefer the personal conversation, at least we are the ones who can assess and assess where our students are.”
In the run-up to classrooms reopening, the government has ramped up a vaccination campaign and will provide free public transport to students through the end of the calendar year.
On Saturday, the government began handing out cash aid to students and parents struggling to cover expenses, sparking chaotic scenes outside distribution centers.
In the city of Zamboanga, 29 people were injured when several thousand tried to breach the gate of a high school.
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