Duterte - no face to face school until children vaccinated.

[Mike J]

I can see them being out for the next school year, maybe longer.  Only about 2-3 percent of the population so far has been fully vaccinated.  In the actual article there is a helpful visual graphic that shows how many and where the vaccine doses have been administered.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/21/21/duterte-no-face-to-face-classes-until-children-are-vaccinated

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday reiterated that he will not allow the resumption of face-to-face classes until the country has reached herd immunity against COVID-19.

Duterte said he will only allow the resumption of face-to-face classes once everyone gets vaccinated.

"In the last meeting, Carlos Dominguez III, the Secretary of Finance, said clearly that we have the money already reserved for the vaccines and it's there, and we can buy as many vaccines as required, maski na sumobra, mas mabuti ngang sumobra kaysa magkulang (even if we have surplus, I think it's better to buy more than to not have enough)," he said.

"Dito sa face-to-face, I think I am not inclined to agree with you. I'm sorry but, mahirap (it's difficult), I cannot gamble on the health of the children," Duterte told Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

Briones said she agrees with the President and added that her agency will just continue to prepare and wait until it is safe to reopen schools.

"This time again, always, we try to keep ourselves prepared, just in case, if things get better, if the numbers are flattened, and if there is more hope, then if you say open the schools, we will open the schools," she said.

"We cannot match the professional knowledge of the health people, especially the idea of having our children vaccinated because we are told that children are now more prone and perhaps are vulnerable and we would not want to risk 27 million children and our teachers," Briones added.

Duterte has twice rejected a pilot test for face-to-face classes, the latest in February, because the COVID-19 vaccination drive had yet to be launched then. 

Duterte may reconsider face-to-face classes after rollout of 2 million COVID-19 vaccines: ofc'l
Briones in February said a survey by her agency showed "more than 50 percent" of students were in favor of attending in-person classes. 

A "significant portion" of teachers also want to hold limited in-person classes while parents remain undecided on the matter, she said. 

The education chief said prolonged school closures have an impact on the psychosocial welfare of students.

The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia that has yet to hold in-person classes, even on a limited scale to supplement distance-learning modalities, she added.

Duterte decision on face-to-face classes rests on public confidence: spokesman
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier authorized the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for minors as young as 12 years old.

Philippines needs P20 billion more in COVID-19 vaccine drive: Dominguez
FDA OKs use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for 12-17 years old
The Philippines has administered more than 8.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since the government began its immunization drive last March, officials said Monday.

 
Of the 8,407,342 doses administered as of June 20, the Department of Health and National Task Force Against COVID-19 said 6,253,400 were given as first doses while 2,153,942 were second doses. Recipients of the latter are considered fully vaccinated.

The latest total inoculation figure was higher by more than 356,000 from Friday's 8,050,711 reported on Sunday.

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in PH top 8.4 million: gov't
The country aims to fully vaccinate at least 58 million individuals this year to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus. 

[Old55]

I'm not qualified to judge this decision but will point out Philippines is at or near the bottom of basic education in SE Asia now. Having the majority of children missing a second year of schooling will be devastating to that generation of citizens. 

[Mike J]

6 minutes ago, Old55 said:

I'm not qualified to judge this decision but will point out Philippines is at or near the bottom of basic education in SE Asia now. Having the majority of children missing a second year of schooling will be devastating to that generation of citizens. 

My wife and I are both really concerned about the education system here.  Just my opinion of course, but I think this year of education is marginal at best, wasted at worst. 

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, Mike J said:

My wife and I are both really concerned about the education system here.  Just my opinion of course, but I think this year of education is marginal at best, wasted at worst. 

Whilst I'm not totally overjoyed to have my son studying online full-time, I am a little more positive about the learning he's getting.  I'd say it's 65% as effective.  Unfortunately, I'm paying 125% of the previous years fees for the compromise!  

The report I read today suggested herd immunity in 2023 so we may be looking at another 2 years of this.  

[robert k]

12 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Whilst I'm not totally overjoyed to have my son studying online full-time, I am a little more positive about the learning he's getting.  I'd say it's 65% as effective.  Unfortunately, I'm paying 125% of the previous years fees for the compromise!  

The report I read today suggested herd immunity in 2023 so we may be looking at another 2 years of this.  

I have a soon to be family member who is a teacher but even if I didn't, in your place I would hire a tutor, spend time with the child teaching the basics myself and probably get more learning materials online myself. 

[hk blues]

1 minute ago, robert k said:

I have a soon to be family member who is a teacher but even if I didn't, in your place I would hire a tutor, spend time with the child teaching the basics myself and probably get more learning materials online myself. 

I am a tutor!

 

[robert k]

Just now, hk blues said:

I am a tutor!

 

So you are just worried about the general population of students? Or are you a tutor in non applicable skills for the age group?

[hk blues]

Just now, robert k said:

So you are just worried about the general population of students? Or are you a tutor in non applicable skills for the age group?

I'm not actually concerned - my son's grades have slightly improved since he started the online format as it suits him better, no distractions from other students (well, less) and he's more focused for the shorter classes (half-day v full-day) - my 65% effective is mainly based on quantity over quality.  That said, I'd prefer him to be back in class interacting with is classmates but that's more for social reasons than academic.

I'm an English Tutor - my skillset is useless here as they are perfect English speakers, aren't they? 

[Mike J]

3 hours ago, hk blues said:

Whilst I'm not totally overjoyed to have my son studying online full-time, I am a little more positive about the learning he's getting.  I'd say it's 65% as effective.  Unfortunately, I'm paying 125% of the previous years fees for the compromise!  

The report I read today suggested herd immunity in 2023 so we may be looking at another 2 years of this.  

The youth we work with are all would go to public school and come from families with little money.  They struggle to buy rice and private school, even a tutor, is beyond their means.  Also the internet here is slow and intermittent, some even live in spots with no cell coverage.  They are using "modules", printed booklets that are picked up from the school, completed, and then returned.  Normally one booklet a week.  We bought cell phones for eight students and rotate them through our house so they can use the internet and that has helped.  But for most kids around here the education year is largely lost.  Again, my opinion, but our neighbors seem to feel the same way.  They want this stuff behind us so the kids can get back to school.

[graham59]

The children in our area use the module system too. Our son is only coming up to 6 years old though, so things aren't quite so critical. (He can already count to a hundred and do some simple reading and writing, plus of course is bilingual).  My Mrs is pretty good at keeping him up to speed...then there are the Xbox games that actually require him to do quite a lot of 'brain work', including reading and mathematics. He's also getting good at a skill seemingly totally lacking in the locals...map reading !