3 in 5 students not inoculated ahead of return to school in Philippines

MANILA • Roughly three out of five of the Philippines' 27 million students - some five million of whom are set to return to in-person classes tomorrow - have yet to receive a single shot of vaccines against Covid-19, the Education Ministry has reported.

Education Ministry spokesman Michael Poa told reporters on Friday that only 5.3 million students have been fully vaccinated. Another 5.7 million have received just one shot, he said.

"We would have wanted the numbers to be higher... But the truth of the matter is, the vaccination programme of the national government is not mandatory," said Mr Poa.

Some 5.6 million primary, secondary and college students are set to return to in-person classes for the first time tomorrow, more than two years after the government shut down schools as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Philippines is one of the last countries in the world to resume full-time, in-person classes, largely the fallout of poor vaccination rates and the perennial classroom shortage problem.

In an inauspicious start, dozens of people were injured in southern Philippines yesterday in a crush of students and parents seeking a cash handout ahead of the reopening of schools.

Crowds began gathering outside distribution sites across the country on Friday after the government announced financial aid of up to 4,000 pesos (S$100) for those struggling to cover educational expenses.

In the southern city of Zamboanga, about 5,000 people stood outside a high school where cash was to be given out.

"When they heard the gates were about to open, they rushed forward," said police officer Josen Samsula. "The driveway slopes downward, so what happened was they stumbled and fell on the ground."

Twenty-nine people were treated in hospital for "minor injuries", said Social Welfare Minister Erwin Tulfo, who had been announcing the cash payments in recent days.

The pandemic has worsened the financial misery for millions of Filipino families, who are now struggling to find funds to get their children back to school.

This year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr ordered all schools to fully transition to in-person classes by November, except in certain areas.

Mr Poa said schools "will not discriminate" against students or teachers who have yet to be vaccinated. "We will just have to strictly observe minimum health and safety standards to protect not only our learners, but also our teaching and non-teaching staff."

Nearly all of the country's one million teachers and other school employees have already been fully vaccinated. There are still about 79,000 who have yet to get at least one shot.

Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said in a congressional hearing that at least 17,000 teachers have refused to get vaccinated at all. "We recognise that getting vaccinated should not be required. Those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated would really interact with each other... What's important is that inside the classrooms, the wearing of face masks and the (implementation of) minimum public health standards will be required," he said.

The vaccine take-up is lowest among students aged five to 11 - at just 10 per cent, he noted.

On the other hand, 80 per cent of around 11.4 million Filipinos aged 12 to 17 are already fully vaccinated, he said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who heads the Senate education committee, said: "I think that's a good number, and we're not seeing any problem with that. The problem is with the five-to-11 (age group). That's where the challenge comes in."

The years-long school closure has come at a hefty price.

A World Bank study released last month showed nine out of 10 Filipino children are still struggling to read simple texts at age 10, making the Philippines one of the countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region with the highest rates of "learning poverty".

PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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