Face-to-face classes to boost economy – NEDA

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) stated Friday that reopening schools for in-person classes might earn up to P12 billion per week and enhance the country’s employment rate.

In a statement, NEDA claimed that when more schools return to face-to-face lessons, parents would be able to work longer hours, helping to economic recovery.

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According to data, there are approximately 60,000 public and private schools.

“We reiterate the need for the full and urgent resumption of face-to-face classes to maximize the benefits of alert level 1. This can increase economic activity by around PHP 12 billion per week due to the return of related services around schools,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said.

“It will also free up the time of parents, one in four of whom have to skip or reduce work hours in order to assist their children with online classes at home,” Chua added.

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In January 2022, the country’s  was reported at 6.4 percent. This translates to 2.93 million unemployed Filipinos, projecting a decline of 1.04 million from the 3.96 million reported in January 2021.

Face-to-face classes to boost economy – NEDA

The number of persons 15 years old and over reported as either employed or unemployed was estimated at 45.94 million in January 2022. This was higher compared to the 45.21 million Filipinos in the labor force in the same period last year. In terms of the labor force participation rate (LFPR), this remained the same as the January 2021 rate of 60.5 percent.

Employment situation in the country for the first month of 2022 has improved from 91.2 percent in January 2021 to 93.6 percent this year. This estimated rate was also higher than employment rate in the previous quarter’s 92.6 percent.

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“Now that we have contained the spread of the virus and shifted to alert level 1 in most parts of the country, we look forward to an improvement in employment outcomes in the coming months,” Chua said.

Despite rising oil prices, Chua has stated that the government is on track to fulfill its 7 to 9% GDP objective this year.

Chua announced that the government would distribute P6.1 billion in subsidies to help mitigate the effects of the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

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