Gov’t to study move to allow poor students go to computer shops for online classes

Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar. (Photo from his Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — The government will discuss a proposal to allow poor students avail the services of computer and internet shops for their online classes, the Joint Task Force (JTF) COVID Shield revealed on Wednesday.

In a statement, JTF COVID Shield chief Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the task force issued the proposal as most of the local government units (LGUs) are lacking funds to procure gadgets and provide them to thousands of students for distance learning.

“We feel and understand the concerns of both the students and the parents, especially the poor, in this new kind of learning method. That is why the national government, through the NTF (National Task Force) on COVID-19 and the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) are really finding ways to extend all the necessary assistance to them,” Elezar, who is also Philippine National Police chief for administration, said.

Currently, Eleazar said the existing guideline prohibits minors from entering establishments such as computer and internet shops to prevent further transmission of the coronavirus disease.

Several groups have complained about the conduct of blended learning as public schools marked the start of academic year 2020-2021 on Oct. 5, Monday.

Youth group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan said education of Filipino students was underfunded and exclusive. Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), meanwhile, received reports that some modules given to students have missing pages and errors.