THE COMMISSION on Human Rights on Tuesday commended the Department of Education for encouraging all private and public schools to resume in-person classes for the upcoming school year.

CHR Executive Director Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that they will give their staunch support to DepEd as the right to education “is intrinsic to the exercise of other human rights.”

“Education, supposedly the greatest equalizer, has posed to further divide and alienate the most marginalized children in our society, placing them at greater risk of exploitation and a lifetime of poverty,” De Guia said in a statement.

“Ensuring every Filipino child’s right to education grants them an opportunity to better their lives. It also bridges economic and social gaps — such as productivity, gender inequality, healthcare accessibility, and other issues that hamper our nation-building,” she added.

On Monday, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that the department expects all schools to resume physical classes next school year.

She said that 73 percent of public schools have returned to in-person classes.

Meanwhile, De Guia expressed hope for the steady and progressive expansion of face-to-face learning, while maintaining strict adherence to health and safety protocols.

“CHR implores our incoming leaders to make accessible and quality education a priority investment for the next administration,” she said.

“May the glaring inequalities among literacy and proficiency among our youth that the pandemic has underlined be urgently acted on, with the education sector at the very helm.”