SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday reiterated the urgency of safely reopening schools following the results of another study that highlighted distance learning woes.

The Psychosocial Support and Children’s Rights Resource Center was commissioned by Save the Children to do the survey. The result showed that 67 percent of the student-respondents found it difficult to understand learning materials in modules or online classes.

The study also revealed that 33 percent of the learners struggled with the motivation to study saying that the home is not a conducive learning environment.

The study used semi-structured interviews with 126 respondents from selected areas in Metro Manila — 55 adolescents aged 13-18 and 71 adults who are parents, primary caregivers, or guardians of children aged 6-12.

“Ngayong nagsimula na tayo ng pagbabakuna sa mga menor de edad, hindi natin dapat hayaang umabot pa sa dalawang taon ang kawalan ng face-to-face classes. Malinaw mula sa mga pag-aaral na ang kawalan ng face-to-face classes ay may malaking pinsala sa mga kabataan,” Gatchalian, who heads the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said.

“Dapat ding gawin natin ang lahat ng hakbang upang matiyak ang kaligtasan nila sakaling bumalik na sila sa mga paaralan,” he added.

The government has approved the holding of limited face-to-face classes in 90 public schools. If there will be no glitches, in-person classes will be held in more schools next year.