Learners should remain in the classroom instead of sending them back to online classes in their homes for fear of increased temperatures during the summer season, Mayor Michael Rama said Tuesday.
“Why would you not allow children to be in their schools? You send them back to their homes… don’t you think it is also hot in their homes?” Rama said in Cebuano.
Rama’s remarks came after the Cebu City Council passed a resolution Monday requesting the School’s Division to plot a measure that would go back to blended learning modalities adopted at the height of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
The mayor expressed some misgivings about going back to online classes or modular lessons would affect the learner’s performance, saying that reading and comprehension lessons can be best taught in person rather than remotely done online or through modules.
Children who are unsupervised by teachers would be tempted to play online games or watch videos instead of answering their modules, Rama said.
“It might end up with parents doing the assignments,”
he added, even as he stressed that teachers should not expose children to the extreme heat of the sun to avoid exhaustion and stroke.
Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Nimfa Bongo said a guideline has been circulated to the campuses laying down procedures for blended learning should the heat index here would increase to a “danger” level.
“So far no one applied for it. Other schools observed blended modalities such as shifting of classes, with one group reporting in the classrooms and the other group in their homes,”
she said in a radio interview.
Bongo said children’s health and safety should be considered in deciding which modality would be observed amid the hot season.
On Monday, the city posted a 38° Celsius heat index based on data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
How will Global Warming effect the Philippines?
According to the world bank report published on the 9th of November 2022, Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), climate change is exacting a heavy toll on Filipinos’ lives, properties, and livelihoods.
If left unaddressed, it could hamper the country’s ambition of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2040.
With 50 percent of its 111 million population living in urban areas, and many cities in coastal areas, the Philippines is vulnerable to sea level rise.
Changes due to the variability and intensity of rainfall in the country and increased temperatures will affect food security and the safety of the population.
Multiple indices rank the Philippines as one of the countries most affected by extreme climate events. The country has experienced highly destructive typhoons almost annually for the past 10 years.
Annual losses from typhoons have been estimated at 1.2 percent of GDP.
Climate action in the Philippines must address both extreme and slow-onset events.
Adaptation and mitigation actions, some of which are already underway in the country, would reduce vulnerability and future losses if fully implemented.
Sources: THX News, World Bank & Philippine News Agency.
