THE Philippine Senate on Monday approved a resolution asking the government to start limited face-to-face classes in more than a thousand public schools amid a coronavirus pandemic.

Senators said pilot physical classes in low-risk areas would let the Education department “gather evidence and design a framework for the safe reopening of schools.”

Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, who authored the measure, said in his sponsorship speech on Monday not all households have internet and gadgets for online classes.

Physical classes would prevent gaps and remove the inequality between rich and poorr students, he added.

Seven senators who filed the measure on Monday said the prolonged school closures have affected students especially those from poor families.

They said the trial run in 1,065 schools in low-risk areas identified by the Education department should start “to avert a prolonged learning loss and minimize other potentially profound adverse social, developmental and health costs.”

They noted that 433 municipalities and three cities have no active coronavirus cases as of Feb. 9. Feeding programs should also be resumed and ease the effects of the pandemic on poor students and their families, they added.

The government should also prioritize teachers for vaccination to lessen the risk of transmissions in schools, the lawmakers said.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte this week rejected a plan to hold limited face-to-face classes pending the rollout of vaccines. In December, he recalled a similar proposal set for January. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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