EACH month of delay in reopening of classes could cost the economy between P96 billion and P134 billion in lost income and economic activity, said an economist-lawmaker.
In a 122-page report to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda of Albay described the socioeconomic costs of not resuming classes as “immense and intergenerational.”
“We estimate the economic costs of delaying school by one month to be 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent of GDP this year, and 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent of GDP for the entire productive life of this generation of students. This is an immediate-year cost of P96 to P134 billion. This is a cost that is bigger than even most individual programs in the economic stimulus proposals in Congress,” he said.
“Depriving students of the ability to learn is an intergenerational curse, considering that every year of education increases incomes by around 10 percent,” Salceda said.
He said the psychosocial costs are also significant.
“The societal implications of education are far too massive for education to be considered as an afterthought in pandemic management. Keeping schools closed, for instance, has immense social costs. Single mothers rely on open day-care centers to take care of their children when they go to work; in many communities, being in school keeps children out of criminal influences. For many children, being in school protects them from abusive households,” he added.
As of June 20, the Department of Education said 13.2 million students from private and public schools have already enrolled for school year 2020-2021, which will be opened on August 24.
According to Salceda, education is as essential a component of normal socioeconomic life as transport, trade and employment. With this, Salceda is pushing for “safe, equitable, and agile” reopening of classes, which he described as “urgent for economic recovery”
“The answer to the question of whether physical classes should resume is not a clear-cut, one-size-fits-all yes or no. The risks are varied per sector, per area, and even per student. That is why a continuum of options for learning must be present to account for the differences in risk. We nonetheless believe that school should resume as soon as the country is ready,” he said.
“We will not have found a new normal that is viable until we have found a way to keep education both safe and effective. The risks can and should be managed, but the social and economic costs will compound if we completely ignore the problem,” Salceda added.
He said a school has to be safe, equitable, flexible while public education should remain cost-free.
“I emphasize that there should be a variety of learning modes. You can’t force online classes among those with no Internet. You cannot force physical classes if the schools cannot guarantee minimum health standards. Local flexibility is a must,” he said, in a mix of English and Filipino.
Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones has repeatedly explained that the DepEd pitched “blended learning” precisely to allow for flexibility in learning systems depending on unique conditions in certain areas.
Salceda emphasized the need for varied learning modes and decision tools for school and district administrators.
Salceda also warned against a one-size-fits-all approach to the reopening of classes.
“What appears clear to us is that risks among those who go to school, whether as students or as personnel, are not uniform. The costs of not reopening school are also not uniform. Therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach to the reopening of classes is doomed to result in outcomes that will fail for all,” Salceda’s report stated.
It recommended a “risk-stratified approach,” allowing students who live with high-risk persons to learn from home, and allowing for flexibility in decision-making among schools, districts, and divisions, depending on their risk classification.
“The point is, reopening classes has its risk. So, let’s manage the risks. But we need to make decisions. Not doing anything has even greater economic costs. In the long run, it could be an intergenerational curse.” Salceda said.
“It must be admitted, however, the physically reopening school also carries immense risks in the age of Covid-19. Nonetheless, we also observed that, while school reopening carries risks, measures can be taken to mitigate the impacts of a possible outbreak in schools.”
He cited the primacy of physical distancing, deliberate reduction of contacts, avoiding mixing groups, increasing ventilation, enhanced hygiene and cleaning, reduction of access of high-touch surfaces, identification and isolation of symptomatics, personal protective equipment such as masks and considerations of vulnerable and high-risk students.