THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers said that teachers are prepared to take on the challenges of school reopening and curb the learning loss from the “failed” distance learning.

“Our teachers have been at the forefront of the call for safe school reopening and have been involved in the planning and preparation of its pilot run. Because of this, they can very well see the gaps in the school reopening plan that weaken school safety and spell heavier burden to teachers,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said in a statement.

The group, however, sought safety measures to ensure the protection of teachers and learners. It called for the hiring of school nurses and utility personnel to free teachers of the additional and heavier non-teaching tasks that the Department of Education assigned to teachers in light of the school reopening.

“Our teachers are given heavier responsibilities for the school reopening. Apart from conducting daily health check of all participating learners, they are tasked to man and manage school clinics in the absence of available health professional, and will surely shoulder the burdensome sanitation and disinfection duties as school utility personnel are very scant. Paano makakapag-focus sa pagtuturo ang mga guro kung gaganap pa sila bilang nurse at janitor?” Basilio asked.

He said that weekly screening must be done to ensure that the Covid19 virus will not enter school premises. A special vaccination program should also be undertaken in areas where pilot face-to-face classes are held, he added.

Basilio shared that the greatest fear of teachers and families of learners is their incapacity to afford expensive Covid19 treatment, thus the need for government to set aside a medical fund for this purpose.

“The government should give incentives to teachers who face the challenges of school reopening head on. They will be exposing themselves and their families to great risks, they only deserve to be granted hazard pay,” he said.

ACT called on the government to release additional funds for the safe school reopening, noting that such were not provided in the 2021 budget.

“As the government has no clear plans to reopen schools when the 2021 budget was deliberated, the needs of the pilot run were not incorporated in this year’s budget. It is only fair as it is necessary that supplementary funding be provided for this,” Basilio said.