THE NATIONAL Union of Students of the Philippines said that a larger budget is needed to provide quality education during the resumption of face-to-face classes.

“If we return to in-person learning without sufficient budget and aid, we return to the old system of learning that has long alienated Filipino students in the first place. We return to lacking facilities and to underpaid and overworked professors,” NUSP National President Jandeil Roperos.

Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera III earlier issued Memorandum Order No. 16 which allows state universities and colleges to resume face-to-face classes.

“Unless there is an approval from the Commission on Higher Education, an HEI cannot offer its recognized degree programs in full distance learning delivery including online modality,” De Vera said.

However, Roperos questioned how the government will provide quality education and ensure the safety of students in face-to-face classes.

“We’ve long seen how ineffective full distance learning is. The bigger questions, then, are: will the national government and CHED provide the necessary support to ensure safe, accessible, and quality face-to-face education? Will they strengthen the infrastructures needed for hybrid learning? Will they subsidize the tools needed by students and teachers alike?” Roperos said.

“It must be recalled that as early as August 2021, the Union and more than a hundred student councils had already called for the resumption of face-to-face classes. In September of the same year, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) itself posited that ‘online and modular learning is only 37% as effective as face-to-face learning,’” she added.

Senate has approved P35.463 billion budget for CHED for year 2023.