The Bukluran Student Alliance of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila on Monday denounced the statement of Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera that distance learning will be the ‘new norm’ in college education.

De Vera said that the country is “not going back to the old paradigm.”

The students called for the safe return to schools.

“The current setup is anti-poor. The learning is compromised in all possible aspects. Students and teachers alike are getting left behind. We cannot afford another year of failed education set-up,” the alliance said on Facebook.

“We demand a free, accessible, quality, and safe education for all. We demand efficient mass vaccination and mass testing, financial aid for students and teaching and non-teaching who will contract the virus, and a safe return to safe face-to-face classes,” it added.

In a recent interview, De Vera clarified that flexible learning means mixing available options as schools are not yet ready to fully open since students, faculty members and administrators have not been vaccinated yet.