“We believe that schools are the safest place for learning, but the criminal negligence of the Duterte regime has kept them closed for more than a year.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Certify as urgent and pass House Bill 10398 or the Safe School Reopening Bill.
This is the call of the progressive youth group Kabataan Party-list as hundreds of students from the Saint Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City took their call for academic break to the streets last Saturday, Oct. 30.
“Kabataan Partylist stands with the students of Saint Louis University and students from other universities for their call of an immediate academic break and enjoins them to further our call for the safe reopening of schools,” the group said in a statement.
The HB 10398 proposes to fund the safe and phased reopening of schools amid the pandemic. The proposed measure was filed by the KPL last month.
The KPL said that the P184 billion ($3.636 billion) funding for the proposed Safe Schools Reopening Bill “will enable us to reopen schools in order to be used for learning activities which will benefit not only students but also teaching and non-teaching personnel and their families.”
“We believe that schools are the safest place for learning, but the criminal negligence of the Duterte regime has kept them closed for more than a year,” the group added.
The group described the present remote or distance learning as a failure, and anti-poor. They pointed out that it has “only worsened the existing colonial, commercialized and anti-democratic education system.”
“We are facing an education and mental health crisis as schools remain closed at large,” the youth partylist said. “Clearly, we cannot delay programs for safe school reopening any longer. If malls and cinemas are set to open in the next few weeks, all the more that schools must be assisted to reopen,” the group added.
No action from the SLU administration
Students protested over the weekend after the SLU administration reportedly failed to act on the students’ requests for academic break.
In early October, the SLU Supreme Student Council (SSC) sent a letter to the office of University President stating the basis of their requests but they got no response from the administration. They then met with the school’s vice president for academic affairs.
Due to lack of action, SLU’s student council together with other student councils in Baguio City also submitted the same request to the City Council.
“We firmly believe that the studentry always comes first and foremost as we will continue to lobby for a well-deserved break for our students,” the group said in a statement.
In its letter, the council stated the basis of their request for academic break. One is the challenges being faced by the students as well as the faculty after Tropical Storm Maring wreak havoc in North Luzon.
“This event started the call for an educational break within the institutions. The student councils recognize the need to have a break to give way for students severely affected by the said tropical storm,” the letter read.
The letter also stated the alleged increase in the number of students harming themselves “due to academic pressure and stress.” But they added that the cases are still under investigation.
There are also academic workloads being given out even on Sundays.
“Sundays are the only day when students can rest and have quality time for their family and themselves. Still, due to pilled-up academic requirements, it compromises their physical and mental health,” the letter read.
“Despite the endless calls for academic breaks, the daily calls on social media continuously ignored, numerous letters and emails from student councils, some universities remain silent in addressing the issue. The lack of communication and compassion has severely impacted not only the students’ mental health but also their lives and futures,” the group said.
Safe reopening of schools
Different youth groups expressed solidarity with SLU students. In a statement, the National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP) reiterated their call for the safe reopening of schools, saying that it is “the prevailing first step the government and individual schools must take to ensure quality learning and accessibility for all the students.”
“We emphasize that a truly just and compassionate education does not only focus on our academic growth, but tends to our non-academic needs such as mental health, safety, and collective well-being as well,” the group said in a statement.
The #AcademicBreakNOWSLU and #LigtasNaBalikEskwela also became a trending topic on social media over the weekend. 
