MANILA - Schools must now be fully opened to address learning losses brought about by mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, a stakeholder said Friday.

All schools in the country shifted to distance learning when the pandemic hit in 2020. This presented challenges as students were forced to learn at home using offline modules or online classes.

Dr. Kwame Akyeampong, the Co-Chairman of the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel, said the pandemic aggravated further the problem of learning loss or students not learning enough.

This is especially true in developing nations including the Philippines where about 27 million students lost over a year of in-person classes, he said at a webinar hosted by the Philippine Business for Education (PBED) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

"We have to keep schools open as this is very important, not only economically, but also the lives of the children," he said.

Akyeampong said the government could adjust instruction, support teachers, encourage parental engagement, and leverage on existing technology to address the education crisis.

"It is not simply a question of opening schools, you have to be able to also know what learning loss has taken place to be able to adjust instruction to address the gap that has happened," he said.

Education Assistant Secretary Alma Ruby Torio said boosting learning required an extended school calendar, expanded learning time, the establishment of learning support centers, the conduct of summer learning remediation and intervention programs, hiring additional learning support aides, and the conduct of regular home visitations and follow-up.

"Returning to school signals a return to normalcy and increased teacher-learner engagement," Torio said.

Both Akyeampong and Torio also agreed that health mitigation measures are needed to ensure the safety of students and teachers.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua earlier said the resumption of physical classes for the entire country would not only benefit the education sector but also boost economic recovery.

• NEDA: Face-to-face classes to boost PH economy by P12 billion weekly
• Return of face-to-face classes to boost employment, economy: NEDA
• DepEd wants World Bank apology over report on Filipino students

RELATED VIDEO:

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv