Aside from the need to hasten learning recovery following the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, learners’ continued access to safety nets adds urgency to the safe reopening of schools, Senator Win Gatchalian said.

Like the study made by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Senator Win Gatchalian also referred to that of Northern Ireland’s Public Health Agency (PHA) to reiterate his call to the Philippine government to consider allowing localized and limited face-to-face classes especially in low risk areas. The PHA recently assured that schools are not a major source of COVID-19 transmission.

To help ensure coherence in improving the quality of teacher education and training in the country, Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking the institutionalization of the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), the Department of Education’s (DepEd) professional development arm.

A recent study on the behavior of internet users revealed that Gen Zs, or those born after 1996, are the most likely to share unverified news on social media platforms. For Senator Win Gatchalian, this finding should prompt efforts to boost information and media literacy among the country’s K to 12 learners.

Following the Commission on Population and Development’s (POPCOM) report that pregnancies among minors aged 10-14 was up by 7 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year, Senator Win Gatchalian is calling for a more aggressive government response to prevent young girls from being pregnant and falling in the trap of ‘intergenerational poverty.’

As the country prepares for the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, Senator Win Gatchalian is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to study the findings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in allowing face-to-face classes. The CDC is a national public health institute in the United States. 

A ‘no fail policy' in schools? The policy’s long-term impact may do more harm than good to the academic performance of learners, Senator Win Gatchalian stressed.

Aside from economic recovery, the learning recovery of more than 25 million learners in the basic education sector is also at stake in the timely rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Senator Win Gatchalian said.

Though the Department of Education (DepEd) reported that there is no clear indicator of massive dropouts among learners as they either shifted from one mode of learning to another, Senator Win Gatchalian said there should be equal focus in tracking their learning progress under the distance learning setup.