FIVE personnel of the Department of Education in Isabela province died of Covid19, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers said.

“Their deaths and the jarring effects of infection surges to education continuity expose the frailty of the government’s ill-prepared distance learning program in the context of the Duterte administration’s equally disastrous pandemic response,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said in a statement.

ACT implored the government to add teachers and non-teaching personnel in the list of priorities for Covid19 vaccination program.

“As such, this should prompt the government to elevate the position of teachers in the vaccine priority list,” Basilio said.

“Their crucial role in delivering the essential service that is education and the bare-faced fact that many educators get infected in the line of duty undeniably make teachers frontliners amid the pandemic,” he added.

Aside from the inclusion of teachers in the vaccination program, the group also urged the government to provide gadgets and internet subsidy to all learners in need. By doing so, the digital modular and online learning can truly be accessible and effective and will minimize the need for physical distribution and retrieval of printed modules in schools and communities.

The POST has sought DepEd for comment, but it has yet to respond.