President Rodrigo Duterte has made it clear that face-to-face classes will not happen not until everyone is vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I cannot gamble on the health of the children,” Duterte told Education Secretary Leonor Briones.
“We might differ in our opinions about the matter but for as long as there is really no vaccination for all,” he added.
Briones then withdrew her proposal citing that she accepted Duterte’s decision.
“If things get better, if the numbers are flattened and if there is more hope, if you say open the schools, we will open the schools,” Briones previously told Duterte.
Last month, Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera III said that the return of face-to-face classes would be impossible for now in universities and state colleges.
De Vera said in a recorded speech that a flexible learning system was the new way to go and this would be modified further as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
De Vera added that a flexible learning system would likely be the new norm in colleges and universities.
He said that educational institutions must brace for future health crises and pandemics as well.
“Universities will mix and match flexible learning methods appropriate to the situation,” De Vera said.
