THE PHILIPPINE Business for Education urged the government to open schools in areas with low rates of Covid19 transmission, warning that the prolonged closure of schools will be disastrous for the country’s education system.

“Our country is already in a learning crisis, and the longer we wait for our schools to open, the heavier the losses will be for our students and the economy. We appeal to the government to find ways to open schools safely so that our students can resume their learning,” PBEd Executive Director Love Basillote said.

The group urged the government to study ways on how physical classes can safely resume, without endangering lives.

“Let’s be clear: We don’t want to endanger the lives of our teachers and students either. But if we can safely reopen the economy following health guidelines and protocols, what is preventing us from safely reopening our schools?” it said.

The group revealed that around 3 million students have dropped out of school this year because they cannot keep up with learning requirements.

“With no alternatives left, we are abandoning a generation of young people. This has a grave impact on national development,” Basillote said.

She said the Philippines can look at models of safe reopening of classes abroad – those informed by science and are limited to areas where the prevalence and transmission rates of Covid19 are low.

The PBEd official said students who dropped out of school will find it difficult to get employment while companies would also have a hard time finding a skilled workforce.

“We cannot expect an economic expansion with our companies going under because they cannot find skilled workers,” Pabillote said.

In a televised briefing last week, DepEd said more than half of students in the country are for the resumption of face-to-face classes.

Results of a survey conducted late last year by education group Aral Pilipinas among 9,716 Filipinos also showed that 75 percent of respondents wanted face-to-face classes to resume.

Of the 7,297 who said yes to the opening of schools, 53 percent believed that children learn better with face-to-face classes.