SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Department of Education to form a panel of experts that will guide the holding of pilot face-to-face classes in low-risk areas.

Gatchalian said that the panel should study the pilot testing program and resumption of face-to-face classes with a more specialized approach.

He supported the proposal to conduct the pilot program in a smaller number of schools and with fewer students to gather evidence on the safe resumption of face-to-face classes.

The DepEd is considering pilot testing the program in 1,065 schools.

“Hindi naman ibig sabihin na dahil nag-cancel ng face-to-face classes, titigil na rin tayo sa pilot schools. This is a good way for our scientists to study what can be done to mitigate the effects of Covid19 to our learners,” the senator said.

Last week during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture headed by Gatchalian,  the Philippine Pediatric Society cited a global study of 191 countries which showed no association between school status and Covid19 infection rates.

The PPS said that one year of school closure is equivalent to two years lost on learning.

For the PPS, the effects of prolonged school closures on health and development — including learning losses, increased exposure to violence, sexual abuse, and early pregnancies — can be mitigated if the highest standards of safety measures are observed.

“The damage of school closures can be deeper and longer. During pre-Covid, our learners did not do well in international large-scale assessments and our national achievement scores were not doing great. And now, because of the lack of access to face-to-face education, internet, and gadgets, the learners are left on their own,” Gatchalian said.

The senator also stressed the need to prioritize teachers in the Covid19 vaccination program. He cited the case in Indonesia where teachers were inoculated ahead of vulnerable groups.