MILITANT teachers and Vice President Sara Duterte threw allegations over the decision of the Department of Education to continue holding classes despite the anticipated weeklong transport strike starting Monday.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers lashed at Deped’s “inflexible stance.”
Duterte, also the Deped secretary, threw shades at ACT for supporting a “pointless” and “communist-inspired” transport strike.
Deped announcement
Michael Poa, the spokesman for the Deped, had earlier announced that classes in public schools nationwide would not be suspended this week.
Those who will be affected by the transport strike “should be allowed to continue learning through alternative delivery modes (ADM),” he added.
Deped governs all public schools from K to 12 levels nationwide.
‘Inflexible stance’ of Deped
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers lashed at Deped’s “inflexible stance.”
“DepEd’s categorical announcement that there will be no suspension of physical classes due to the weeklong transport strike next week proves its insensitivity and obliviousness to the daily hurdles that students and teachers face in order to come to schools,” the ACT said in a statement.
It noted that many higher education institutions have already suspended physical classes.
“If college students are expected to have a hard time coming to school on the days of the transport strike, what more for our much younger pupils?” the ACT said.
The ACT suggested that the Deped allow its regional and division offices to declare the cancellation of classes in areas where public transportation is affected by the strike.
“For us teachers, we support our PUV drivers and operators in their fight for their livelihood. They are our partners in our daily struggles to do our jobs and earn a living. We feel them and we support their demand for a pro-people modernization of public transportation,” it added.
Sara D: Strike is ‘pointless’
Duterte assailed ACT for supporting what she called a “communist-inspired” weeklong transport strike.
Learning recovery, she stressed, is foremost on the agenda of the Department of Education. “It does not include the pointless weeklong transport strike supported by ACT,” she said.
“I maintain that during this communist-inspired weeklong strike, both in-person and alternative delivery modes of learning shall be implemented, whichever is convenient to the learners,” she said.
She stressed that the transport strike is a “painful interference in our efforts to provide solutions to the problems besetting our education system and will only exacerbate the learning hardships of our students.”
“ACT supporting this transport strike, and shamelessly harping twisted justifications for it, only betrays its true colors — that it is a group that does not really serve the interest of students and teachers,” she stressed.
ACT should know that a weeklong transport strike at this critical point in their efforts to remedy learning losses is a “learning disruption,” she said.
“But ACT couldn’t care less if our efforts are hampered or if we fail because — as a lover of the useless ideologies espoused by the New People’s Army, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines — ACT’s dream is for our children to remain uneducated and poor,” she said.
Duterte also challenged ACT to show its sincerity to the sector it is supposed to serve — the students, the teachers, and the entire Philippine education system “by working with local government units and other government agencies to ensure the convenience of learners during the transport strike instead of supporting it.”
‘Red tagging, really?’
The ACT called out Duterte’s “red tagging” their group instead of addressing their “valid concerns.”
“ACT’s proposal to allow regional and division offices to cancel physical classes in areas that will be affected by transport strike is only practical and pro-active.
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“Supporting the demands of our public utility vehicle (PUV) against phase out and for pro-people modernization is only just and compassionate,” it added.
They said it is “appalling” to hear from the Deped secretary accusing their group of wanting children to “remain uneducated and poor.”
“Kami pa ba na araw-araw ay binabata ang lahat ng balakid, maturuan lamang ang aming mga estudyante? This is a big insult to our teachers who ensure the delivery of education come hell or high water—despite the classroom shortage, lacking laptop and teaching materials, large class size, mounting non-teaching duties, measly salaries, delayed benefits, and many other problems,” it said.
It reminded that the ACT was the first to assert for “Ligtas na Balik-Eskwela” amid the pandemic despite the opposition of his father, then President Rodrigo Duterte, to fully resume face-to-face classes.
“Sec. Duterte should open her eyes to the reality that our schools, teachers and students do not live in a vacuum. We live in a society that is now embroiled in deep economic crisis and our teachers and students are not exempted from rising prices of goods, inadequacy of income, or difficulties in public transportation.
“Many of our students and teachers have family members who are PUV drivers who are about to lose their livelihood. Our difficult realities and the scantiness of government funding for education are the real serious impediments to education recovery, so much more than the coming transport strike,” it said.
