THE PHILIPPINE Business for Education backed the Department of Education’s plan to implement limited in-person classes when School Year 2021-2022 opens.

The group said that the learning crisis threatening the education sector should also be urgently addressed.

“We need an immediate response to the learning crisis in our country. We call on the government to draw out measures to bring our students back to schools safely. The longer we wait for our schools to open, the heavier the losses will be for our students and the economy,” PBEd Executive Director Love Basillote said.

The group said that the immediate and safe return of face-to-face classes will help make up for the learning losses especially for the 2.7 million unenrolled K-12 students this school year.

“Around 3 million students have dropped out of school this year due to lack of resources required for distance learning. With no alternatives left, we are abandoning a generation of young people. This has a grave impact on national development,” Basillote said.

A 2020 survey of education group Aral Pilipinas among 9,716 Filipinos showed that 75 percent of respondents agreed with the resumption of face-to-face classes. Of the 7,297 who said yes to opening of schools, 53 percent believed that children learn better with face-to-face classes.

Most of the respondents came from poor families.