Quezon City – Students of primary and secondary schools together with their parents held a protest action in front of President Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City to highlight the struggles they have been facing as the school year officially opened this week.

Wearing their school uniforms, the students demanded the government to address the woes haunting the country’s education system as a result of the Duterte’s bungled pandemic response and the incompetence of Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones in implementing safe and effective education program during the pandemic.

“Gusto na po talaga naming maibalik ang face-to-face classes dahil wala po kaming natutunan sa kasalukuyang programa sa edukasyon ng pamahalaan. Maraming mga estudyanteng katulad ko ang problemado kung saan kukunin ng aming mga magulang ang pera para sa gadget at load sa araw-araw na online class. Kahit po nagsimula na ang klase ay hindi pa rin nga po ako nakakabili ng mga gamit sa eskwela,” said David Austria, secretary of Salinlahi Youth Marikina and an incoming first year college.

According to one of the parents who participated in the protest action, the school year has already started but the national government has failed to provide the much needed school materials and learning resources for students, especially for those coming from poor families.

“Hindi na nga kami magkandaugaga sa pagtatrabaho para lang may pantustos sa araw-araw na gastusin at pagkain, dagdag na alalahanin pa namin kung paano na naman ituturo ang tambak tambak na modules sa aming mga anak. Buti sana kung modules lang. Eh kailangan din naman nila ng internet kasi kadalasan dun ipinapadala ang mga sasagutan. Dapat paghandaan ng DepEd ang muling pagbubukas ng mga paaralan dahil kawawa rin naman ang mga bata na halos dalawang taon nang nasa loob lang ng mga bahay,” said Nanay Jekris, a resident of Quezon City and mother of school-aged children,

Salinlahi also raised some of the demands to the government in order to deliver a safe, equitable, quality and relevant education to Filipino children. In a petition issued by Salinlahi, it urged the national government to roll out a clear plan for the immediate safe conduct of limited and voluntary in-classroom learning in zero-case and low-risk areas and provide a roadmap to the eventual safe reopening of schools across the country; allocate higher budget to education to ensure the provision of teaching and learning resources for distance learning as well as health protection and benefits to education workers; and implement genuine academic ease.

“Hindi pwedeng makuntento na lang ang DepEd sa distance learning program nang walang malinaw na plano para sa muling pagbubukas ng mga paaralan. Anong klaseng edukasyon ang matatamasa ng mga bata kung ang mga eskwelahan ay patuloy na nakasara? Hindi pwedeng walang pagbabago sa framework at approach na napatunayan nating palpak dahil mauulit nang mauulit lamang ang mga problema. Dapat may konkretong solusyon at mga hakbang para masiguro ang isang ligtas na balik paaralan,” Salinlahi Secretary General Eule Rico Bonganay emphasized during the program.

After the program, Salinlahi proceeded to BATODA Terminal along Commonwealth Avenue to hold a petition signing and gather the support of the public to the call for Ligtas Na Balik Paaralan campaign. The petition will be filed at the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education, Senate, House of Representatives and other concerned government agencies in the following weeks. ###