learning, building a learning hub for remote communities, and transcribing or converting learning modules into accessible formats for learners with disabilities, such as for those with visual impairment. Another key issue is the cost of online learning not only to students but also to the teachers as well. Additional costs further burdened learners with disabilities and their carers, as well as learners from households below the poverty line, due to expenses for procuring prepaid cards and paying bills for electricity and internet connection. Mental health and multiple burdens of students 165. Prolonged lockdowns have taken a toll not only on physical health but also on the mental health and well-being of learners. Such restrictions have been found to worsen the condition of learners with pre-existing mental health issues and those living in cramped households and communities.189 Some learners also need to multitask as they attend online classes, complete modules, and even do household chores and other errands. These circumstances add up to the mental stress and anxiety that learners have to endure, to the extent that there are reports of student deaths related to distance learning.190 Because the students themselves have experienced the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health, the student councils of different schools have initiated help desks and hotlines for students to air their grievances and problems encountered during the pandemic. Such initiatives are helpful, but attention to the deaths of students through a formal investigation or inquiry by the government through DepEd and CHED could have generated interventions and reforms that can be implemented widely in different schools and academic institutions to avoid the rise of student deaths. Vaccination requirement for face-to-face classes 166. Based on the Human Rights Advisory by the CHR on COVID-19 vaccination, “COVID-19 vaccines should be made affordable and accessible without discrimination,” especially to the most vulnerable or marginalized sectors of the population, and “made physically accessible for marginalized groups and people living in remote areas.”191 The CHR further notes, “COVID-19 vaccination should not be compulsory and should only be administered under the conditions of informed consent”192 and stresses that “At all times, the State should seek to ensure that vaccination is voluntary.” Acceptability of vaccines, their safety and efficacy, transparency of the vaccine provider, and the people’s trust in the government agencies in charge of ensuring the vaccine’s safety are considerations to be made for issuing a vaccination policy.193 The vaccination policies issued by CHED and DepEd along with the DOH contradict these key points as students, teachers, and non-teaching staff are compelled to get vaccinated to be allowed to enter the school premises and participate in the limited face-to-face classes. Such policies also 189 supra note 81. supra note 85. 191 Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Advisory on COVID-19 Vaccination, CHR (V) 2020-2021, at 5–6 (Jan 26, 2021). 192 CHR, Human Rights Advisory on COVID-19 Vaccination, at 8. 193 Id. 190 60