Duterte apologizes for continuing to reject in-person classes

deped online class in public schools

At home in Calamba, Laguna, a child wears a school uniform as she attends her second grade online class conducted a private school in Makati. Photo taken on Aug. 10, 2020. (File photo by CHRIS QUINTANA / Inquirer Southern Luzon)

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte apologized to parents on Monday for still opposing the conduct of even limited face-to-face classes as he could not afford to gamble with the lives of children, especially with the emergence of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

He said he also wanted “normalcy” for the education of children, but the presence of the more transmissible Delta variant prevented him from taking that step.

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“I’m asking for forgiveness from mothers, fathers because the education of the children is being delayed. Forgive me because I can’t really give my permission for them to return to normal classes in schools,” Duterte said, speaking partly in Filipino, during his weekly Palace briefing on the COVID-19 situation.

“I cannot gamble with the life of our children,” he added.

In his briefing last week, he insisted he was not inclined to allow limited in-person classes because most people were still not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Due to the pandemic, the entire educational system shifted to distance learning under which learning modules and remote teaching through television, radio, and the internet are used.

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