Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Sunday urged the government to fast-track the vaccination of teachers by including them under the essential workers classification of the national vaccination program as the classes in public schools set to open on September 13.
“The class is about to open but many of our teachers have not been vaccinated. What about those who handle blended learning who regularly meet with parents to distribute modules? So they should be included in the priority list, ” Marcos said, in a statement.
Marcos made the call following reports that of the over 900,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education, 80,792 already received their first doses while only 53, 045 have received their second doses as of August 11.
The former senator noted that the teachers’ grievances, such as delayed release of benefits and reimbursements on top of being overfatigued due to being overloaded with paper works and reports, should be addressed immediately to enable them to cope with the stress brought by the new learning systems amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Their benefits are already delayed, but they still cover the cost for their internet, as well as the reimbursements for printing the modules, are still delayed. They also have families that need to be supported and yet they are just depending on their meager income,” he lamented.
Based on a survey conducted by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education (SEQuRE Educ Movement), public school teachers are also confronted with same problems encountered by students on internet access and cost on top of their heavier workload.
He expressed concern that since the new learning systems, both full online and blended learning, would still be in place with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, the quality of education in the country would suffer if the teachers are hindered from giving their best.
Marcos said t when teachers were not weighed down by stress, overfatigue and financial setbacks, they would be more inspired to find ways to hold the attention of their students so they would learn more.
“How can they teach properly if they already have a problem with the unstable and slow internet. They are also struggling with the amount of reports and paper works. They don’t even have enough food to eat as well as their rest time? And yet, they have not received the right benefits on time, ” he said.
Another study conducted, by the same group, on public school students, showed that only 14 percent of the respondents learned well under the new learning system, while 66 percent to 86 percent said they learned less under either full online learning or blended learning, respectively.
With barely two weeks before the opening of classes, total enrollees is still only 35.1 percent at 9,197,265 as of Aug. 26, compared to the 26,227,022 enrollees last year.
“If teachers can’t teach well, children can’t learn well either. Why would their parents, especially those who lost their jobs, spend so that their children can get an education if they can’t learn as well?” Marcos lamented.
