THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers  slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order stopping the holding of limited face-to-face classes in January, saying it does not address concerns on safety and accessibility of quality education amid the Covid19 pandemic.

The group stressed the need for proactive measures to curb the spread of the virus and the “equally pressing” need to strengthen the education system to make it “pandemic-responsive.”

“Last night’s cabinet meeting exposed how ‘in-the-dark’ and ‘in-limbo’ the Duterte administration still is in terms of handling the pandemic, hence its knee-jerk responses of holding back the conduct of face-to-face classes as opposed to employing a scientifically guided risk assessment of where and when physical classes can be held in light of the discovery of new strains, of extending the ban on travelers from United Kingdom’s sans any other action plan, and of creating a new task force instead of replacing the generals in the IATF with medical and scientific experts,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

ACT urged the government to “listen to the people’s long-standing demand for a comprehensive medical and socio-economic response to the crises.”

Instead of resorting to restrictive measures and passively waiting for a vaccine, the government should aggressively strengthen the public health system and deliver social services as among the government’s primary and fundamental mandate, the group said.

“The Duterte government is yet again resorting to passive measures in dealing with this recent development and its impacts on education. As we’ve learned after the world’s longest lockdown, mere restrictions will not suffice in addressing a health crisis. The government must employ concrete actions to combat the virus by bolstering public health; curb its spread by installing preventive health measures; and enabling the delivery of accessible quality education through ample resource provision. Otherwise, we’ll again be forced to choose between health and life, and our rights to services like education. But to that we say no more, these are our inviolable rights and the state’s constitutional mandate to uphold,” Basilio said.

He explained that teachers consider the resumption of classes as the education system’s recovery from the pandemic since holding face-to-face classes is considered as the “most ideal” mode in formal education.

The group pushed the government to take more serious actions towards this path.

Basilio said the risk of the new strain of Covid19 should not derail initial steps towards closing the gaps in education delivery. Instead, it should push the government to heed calls to guarantee health and safety in schools, maintain non-transmission in remote areas, provide ample infrastructure for remote learning, among others.

“Our demands stand, in the face of the old and new strains of Covid19: fulfill the requisites for safe, accessible, and quality education to enable learning continuity without sacrificing the people’s welfare and rights. We demand these to be addressed now before things take a turn for the worse,” Basilio warned.