Philippines schoolchildren begin classes at home

Grade school and high school students in the Philippines began classes at home Monday after the coronavirus pandemic forced remote learning onto an education system already struggling to fund schools. The shift to distance-learning has been a logistical nightmare for the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country that has long lacked enough classrooms, teachers and equipment.

Nearly 25 million students enrolled this year in mostly 47,000 public schools nationwide that would have to be replicated in homes and enlist the help of parents and guardians as co-teachers. Two mothers in the capital Manila are parking a vehicle close enough to connect to a neighbor's wifi so their two daughters, aged nine and 10, can huddle over a cellphone to hear their teacher's lecture.

The girls stood outside the jeepney to recite the patriotic oath and then climbed back inside, balancing the phone on a stack of notebooks and craning their necks to listen. A majority of families, especially from poor and rural communities, opted to use government-provided digital or printed learning materials or "modules," which students would read at home with the guidance of their elders before carrying out specified activities. Most lacked computers and reliable internet connections.

Teachers could answer questions by telephone. The rest of the families preferred for their children to get lessons online or through regional radio and TV educational broadcasts. President Rodrigo Duterte has said school classes should resume only when a COVID-19 vaccine has been made available, fearing classrooms could become infection hotspots. The Philippines has reported more than 322,400 infections, the highest in Southeast Asia, with more than 5,700 deaths.

(Image Credits: AP)

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