voluntarily. School administrators may decide on teachers and other
employees then schedule based on careful analysis of risks and
benefits.”177 Nevertheless, both student participants and teachers find the
vaccination policy in face-to-face classes discriminatory because some
remain unvaccinated due to health reasons, and some parents choose not
to vaccinate their children but insist on making them attend face-to-face
classes. Not fully vaccinated teachers must present a negative RT-PCR or
antigen test once every two weeks. Moreover, one participant from DepEd
further notes that teachers feel such policy also violates equal protection
and has led to serious confusion to the extent that one school principal filed
charges against a teacher for violation of reasonable office rules and
regulations, while the teacher filed a countersuit against the principal for
grave coercion.
Teachers, school administrators, and principals
Out-of-pocket expenses of teachers
126.
Teachers had to cover additional expenses. Teacher participants from
public schools and state universities and colleges relate that they had to
buy additional supplies for the classrooms using their own money for
plastic barriers and alcohol, which the school administration and
management did not provide nor reimburse.
Youth
Availability of devices and programs
127.
Students lacked available devices and programs. Participants from
state universities and colleges and public SHS related that schools could
not provide the devices for remote learning to every one of their students
because of limited resources, and some prioritize giving them to the
teachers, which the students understand. However, the students could not
participate in the online classes because they had no means as well, nor
did they have their own devices and gadgets to join in their classes online.
Shifting to online modalities
128.
Students and teachers alike had a hard time adapting to online
learning. Both students and teachers had to learn and re-learn online
modalities in the quickest time possible because of the sudden transition
and urgent need.
Mental health and general health of students and families
129.
177
The students’ mental health and general health of their families were
affected. As students were forced to stay at home, it affected their own
mental health, but they were also concerned and directly affected by the
well-being and general health of those in their households.
Id.
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