PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte committed a grave mistake when he reneged on his “no vaccine, no classes” policy and gave in to the insistence and whims of Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones who said that distance learning is okay and she is very much positive that it would be successful. There was even much fanfare on the first day of the opening of classes. However, the opposite is true. Distance learning, particularly the use of modules, is good in theory only but not in practice. Just consider these: How could an elementary graduate parent tutor his or her high school slow learner son or daughter when the parents themselves have no idea on the lesson? This happened not only in the high school but also in the elementary department in our place. There are parents who submitted test papers with no answers to the teacher of their children simply because, like their children, they have no idea of the lessons.

Another thing that compounded the problem is the many errors in the answer keys which fortunately or unfortunately are found at the back in some of the subjects. To cite an example: where can you find Cagayan De Oro? Instead of Misamis Oriental, in the answer key it is Misamis Occidental.

There should have been no classes yet at this time when we are at war with Covid-19 and doing so is only an “exercise in futility.”