SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday called on the Department of Education to be proactive in the vaccination of children to accelerate the expansion of in-person classes nationwide.

Gatchalian has called for the reopening of all schools, citing its economic benefits and the urgency of addressing the impact of school closures.

Gatchalian has sought the involvement of schools in the vaccination children.

“Kung mababakunahan natin ang ating mga kabataan laban sa Covid19, hindi lamang natin matitiyak ang ligtas nilang pagbabalik sa face-to-face classes. Makatutulong din ito sa muling pagbangon ng sektor ng edukasyon at ng buong ekonomiya ng ating bansa,” he said.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture expressed concern that only 736,143 children aged five to 11 were fully vaccinated against Covid19 as of March 25.

The government aims to inoculate 15.56 million children in this age group.

Only around 1.8 million from the same age group have received their first dose. For those in the 12-17 age group, 8.9 million have been fully vaccinated.

As of March 22, 14,396 public and private schools have been nominated for the progressive expansion of limited face-to-face classes.

However, only 10,196 schools, including 212 private schools, have conducted in-person learning.