MANILA: The Philippines will reopen up to 120 schools for limited in-person classes for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in a pilot approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, officials said Monday.
While nearly every country in the world has already partially or fully reopened schools for face-to-face lessons, the Philippines has kept them closed since March 2020.
“We have to pilot face-to-face (classes) because this is not just an issue for education, it’s an issue for the children’s mental health,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters.
“It’s also an issue for the economy because we might lose a generation if we don’t have face-to-face (classes).”
Under guidelines approved by Duterte Monday, up to a hundred public schools in areas considered “minimal risk” for virus transmission will be allowed to take part in the two-month trial.
Twenty private schools can also participate.
Classrooms will be open to children in kindergarten to grade three, and senior high school, but the number of students and hours spent in face-to-face lessons limited.
Schools wanting to take part will be assessed for their preparedness and need approval from local governments to reopen. Written consent from parents will be required.
“If the pilot class is safe, if it is effective, then we will gradually increase it,” said Education Secretary Leonor Briones.
Duterte rejected previous proposals for a pilot reopening of schools for fear children could catch Covid-19 and infect elderly relatives.
But there have been growing calls from the UN’s children fund and many teachers for a return to in-person learning amid concerns the prolonged closure was exacerbating an education crisis in the country.
It is not clear when the pilot will begin or which schools will be included.
A “blended learning” program, which involves online classes, printed materials and lessons broadcast on television and social media, will continue.
France Castro of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said the decision was “long overdue.”
Fifteen-year-olds in the Philippines were at or near the bottom in reading, mathematics and science, according to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Most students attend public schools where large class sizes, outdated teaching methods, lack of investment in basic infrastructure such as toilets, and poverty have been blamed for youngsters lagging behind.
Philippines to reopen 120 schools for in-person classes
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Philippines to reopen 120 schools for in-person classes
- Up to a hundred public schools in areas considered ‘minimal risk’ for coronavirus transmission will be allowed to take part in the two-month trial
Israel defends Somaliland move at UN amid concerns over Gaza motives
- Some states question if recognition part of a bid to relocate Palestinians or establish military bases
- US President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza states: "No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return"
- US accuses Security Council of double standards after Western countries recognized Palestinian state
UNITED NATIONS: Israel defended on Monday its formal recognition of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, but several countries at the United Nations questioned whether the move aimed to relocate Palestinians from Gaza or to establish military bases.
Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state on Friday.
The 22-member Arab League, a regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa, rejects “any measures arising from this illegitimate recognition aimed at facilitating forced displacement of the Palestinian people or exploiting northern Somali ports to establish military bases,” Arab League UN Ambassador Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz told the UN Security Council.
“Against the backdrop of Israel’s previous references to Somaliland of the Federal Republic of Somalia as a destination for the deportation of Palestinian people, especially from Gaza, its unlawful recognition of Somaliland region of Somalia is deeply troubling,” Pakistan’s Deputy UN Ambassador Muhammad Usman Iqbal Jadoon told the council.
Israel’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remarks or address any of them in its statement at the council meeting. In March, the foreign ministers of Somalia and Somaliland said they had not received any proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza states: “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.”
Israel’s coalition government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, includes far-right politicians who advocate the annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank and encouraging Palestinians to leave their homeland.
Somalia’s UN Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman said council members Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone and Somalia “unequivocally reject any steps aimed at advancing this objective, including any attempt by Israel to relocate the Palestinian population from Gaza to the northwestern region of Somalia.”
SOMALILAND VS PALESTINIAN STATE
Somaliland has enjoyed effective autonomy — and relative peace and stability — since 1991 when Somalia descended into civil war, but the breakaway region has failed to receive recognition from any other country.
“It is not a hostile step toward Somalia, nor does it preclude future dialogue between the parties. Recognition is not an act of defiance. It is an opportunity,” Israel’s Deputy UN Ambassador Jonathan Miller told the council.
In September, several Western states, including France, Britain, Canada and Australia announced they would recognize a Palestinian state, joining more than three-quarters of the 193 UN members who already do so.
Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Tammy Bruce said: “This council’s persistent double standards and misdirection of focus distract from its mission of maintaining international peace and security.”
Slovenia’s UN Ambassador Samuel Zbogar disputed her argument, saying: “Palestine is not part of any state. It is illegally occupied territory ... Palestine is also an observer state in this organization.”
He added: “Somaliland, on the other hand, is a part of a UN member state and recognizing it goes against ... the UN Charter.”
Israel said last week that it would seek immediate cooperation with Somaliland in agriculture, health, technology and the economy. The former British protectorate hopes Israeli recognition will encourage other nations to follow suit, increasing its diplomatic heft and access to global markets.
