MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Grade school and high school students in the Philippines began classes from home on Monday after a coronavirus epidemic forced remote-learning on an education system already struggling to fund schools.
Distance education has been a rational nightmare for a long-time poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country that lacks adequate classrooms, teachers and educational equipment. About 25 million students have been enrolled this year, mostly in 47,000 public schools across the country, which will have to be replicated at home and enlisted the help of parents and co-teachers.
Most families, especially from poor and rural communities, prefer to use government-provided digital or printed learning materials or “modules” that students will read at home with the guidance of their elders before performing certain activities. Most computers and reliable internet connections are lacking. Teachers can answer questions by telephone.
Other families chose to give their children lessons online or through regional radio and TV educational broadcasts.
“The system may not be right and there may be questions shifting to flexible learning … but we are confident that the Department of Education will address these challenges,” presidential spokesman Harry Roke said.
Students dropped out of school after classes were postponed in mid-March.
President Rodrigo Duterte has said that classes should be resumed only when the COVID-19 vaccine is made available, fearing classrooms could become a site of infection.
The Philippines has reported 322,400 infections with more than 100 deaths, the highest in Southeast Asia.
Other developments in the Asia-Pacific region include:
– Tourists from China in the first part of the eight-day national holiday 58. Millions of domestic trips have been made, earning China $ .. 9 billion tourism lire, according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. This year’s holiday, which is linked to the Mid-Autumn Festival, will be a test of whether China’s tourism industry can bounce back after being knocked out by COVID-19. Now, local governments in China are offering travel subsidies to domestic tourists, and more than 1,000 tourist attractions are offering visitors free admission or discounted tickets. The rush comes after China reported a new coronavirus infection transmitted locally from the center of China Gust.
– Sri Lankan authorities closed the university and banned buses and trains on Monday, a month after the Kovid-19 patient community reported for the first time in two months. A curfew was imposed on Sunday in the Colombo suburb where the patient lived, and about 15 hospital staff and 40 colleagues have been isolated. The Kelaniya state government-run university in the area was also closed for a week starting Monday. In buses and trains passengers must be transported according to the number of seats, and passengers must wear masks. Schools across the country have been closed. For more than two months, health officials have been saying they have stopped the spread of the virus to the community. There have been 38888 confirmed cases of deaths in the country, including 13 deaths. In total, 3,254 recovered.
– India has registered 74,4423 new coronavirus cases, which is 6.6 million. The health ministry also on Monday registered 903 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 102,685. India, the world’s second worst affected country after the United States, has seen a steady decline in new coronavirus infections and the number of active virus cases has been below the million mark for 14 consecutive days. It is still filing the most daily cases globally and will soon reach the U.S. Is likely to cross with 7.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases.
– 73 new cases of coronavirus have been reported in South Korea, although officials are worried about a possible surplus after the five-day holiday period ends on Sunday. On Monday, Health Minister Park Nyung-hu called for immediate testing of people experiencing fever or other symptoms after traveling during the holiday during a briefing on the virus. The recent decline in new infections may be related to the fewer tests taken during the Chusek harvest holiday. The figures, updated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, reported 24,164 cases, including 422 deaths. The newest cluster in the capital region is the Army unit in Pocheon, where more than 30 soldiers have tested positive.
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