THE PHILIPPINES Business for Education urged the government to open more schools for the conduct of face-to-face classes.

“We have been experiencing the longest school closure in the world. We are calling for an immediate accelerated opening of our school,” Love Basillote, executive director of PBEd, said.

Basillote urged the government to pour enough resources to schools.

“Kasi right now, our main problem is reading. Very basic competencies: reading and numeracy,” she said.

“Young learners require face-to-face teaching and learning for it to be effective. It’s very difficult for them to learn online,” she added.

The Department of Education said that 25,122 public schools and 664 private schools joined the progressive expansion phase of face-to-face classes.