A 16-year-old student from South Cotabato has reportedly committed suicide after allegedly struggling with his online lessons, the fourth case in a row over new normal learning woes.

Reports said the male teenager (name withheld) told his mother that he’s struggling with Mathematics and asked her to return the learning modules because he has decided to drop out of school.

He later hanged himself in their former house. His mother found his body.

Student-activist groups were quick to pick up the news and slammed the government for its ‘in-effective’ distance learning program. The groups also demanded for a safe back-to-school program for the remainder of the school year.

They noted that it is every student’s right to avail of a safe, affordable, and quality education through face-to-face classes.

They also lambasted Education Secretary Leonor Briones for claiming that the country successfully opened classes on October 5 amid the Covid19 pandemic.

“Tagumpay bang maituturing ang kahirapan sa ganitong moda ng pagtuturo na nagdulot ng kamatayan? Ilang buhay pa ba ang kailangang mawala upang bumaon sa isip ni Briones at ni Duterte na palpak at pahirap ang distance learning sa kabataan?” Rise for Education Rizal Technological University chapter said on Facebook.

Briones reaffirmed DepEd’s success, saying that the department only received 96 concerns that were immediately addressed on the first day of classes.