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Effects of prolonged closure of schools: Sen. Win Gatchalian asks Economic and Development Authority Director-General Karl Kendrick Chua during the continuation of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC) briefing on the proposed 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) Thursday, September 9, 2021 if the country's economic managers have estimated the adverse effects of prolonged school closure in the country. According to Gatchalian, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study estimated economic loss at P1.3 trillion, productivity loss at P1.6 trillion, economic loss to a person at P225 billion because their parents tend to stay at home and about P16 billion in forgone wages for teachers and faculties due to the closure of private schools. “It is not only educational scars because I believe some of our students will not go back to school. Last year we lost close to 2 million students who dropped out of school, including those in the alternative learning system. My fear is that these students will not go back to school anymore, creating a huge scar in terms of our work force,” Gatchalian said. Chua told him the estimated productivity loss over the next 40 years is about P11 trillion for the one year the country had no face-to- face schooling. He explained that the figure is much higher than the ADB because they also calculated the inflation rates. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)