A YOUTH group slammed Education Secretary Leonor Briones for saying that the opening of School Year 2021-2022 is “successful and victorious.”

“No, the second year of opening of classes isn’t something to celebrate about, Briones. It is nowhere near victorious, nor is it successful as this is subjected to repeat the hardships that the students, their families, and teachers experienced last year,” Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan spokesperson for junior and senior high school affairs Justin Dizon said.

The group claimed that students and some teachers were ill-prepared for the opening of classes. It said that some teachers again used their own resources to produce learning modules while some students still lack gadgets and decent internet connectivity just like last year.

“Second year into distance learning yet we see no efforts made by DepEd to solve the burden that they’ve given unto educational stakeholders. We are forced into another year of failed distance learning and a doomed face-to-face pilot run for kindergarten up to grade 3 students,” Dizon said.

The group also criticized DepEd’s proposal to conduct face-to-face classes for Kindergarten to Grade 3 students.

“Even if the age group of Kindergarten to Grade 3 students are the most resilient to the Covid19 virus, it is not an excuse for the government to use them as human guinea pigs or sacrificial lambs. Resuming face-to-face classes prematurely can cause an upsurge in cases, thereby also overwhelming our health sector furthermore,” Dizon said.