Mayor Jerry Treñas has formally asked the Department of Education to reconsider its earlier pronouncement of opening the classes this August and instead postpone it to next year.
In a letter addressed to Education Secretary Leonor Briones posted in Iloilo City Government Facebook page, Treñas expressed his reservation on the starting the classes this year as “it may limit the effectiveness of the measures of the Iloilo City Government and the National Government to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Treñas cited the lack of vaccine against the coronavirus as one of the reasons for his appeal to forego the classes.
“This lack of vaccine may unduly expose the children, who are among the vulnerable persons, to the COVID-19 virus. Moreover, considering the natural instinct to play and socialize of children, there might be difficulty on imposing stringent social distancing measures among these children during recess and immediately before and after classes,” Treñas said.
Treñas added that the influx of students may further burden the public transportation system which is currently being restricted.
“Access to public transportation is currently being restricted to not more than 50% passenger capacity. To date, the riding public in Iloilo City is currently experiencing shortage in public transportation services such that some of our constituents were enduring long waiting times and/or choosing to walk to/from work,” he explained.
DepED has recently released the School Calendar and Activities for SY 2020-2021 which puts the opening of classes on August 24, 2020. The enrollment period will be on June 1-30.
