To contain the spread of the coronavirus, schools in the Philippines have remained closed since lockdown ensued in March. This has pushed virtually all of the country’s students to continue their education online.

Concerned that virtual learning may become a struggle for students, a local authority in the Philippines has set up a call center staffed by dozens of teachers who are offering their support to remote learners.

The temporary call center opened in the capital Manila and is staffed by 50 teachers and 20 substitute teachers who have been busy answering hundreds of daily queries by phone, e-mail, and instant messenger, all in a bid to ensure that students don’t fall behind in class.

“Quality education must continue. Just because there is an ongoing pandemic the quality of learning shouldn’t suffer,” said Ferdinand Delgado, team leader of the support program. “This program was made to strengthen the government’s efforts to help students with their education.”

The staff at the support program has been trained by the call center supervisors to handle student inquiries, most of which have so far been about math or science.

The Philippines is often recognized by the global business industry as the call center capital of the world, with more than a million workers serving international companies with customers from all over the globe.

“This program is very important for the students because they cannot always easily reach out to their school teachers,” said mathematics teacher, Ailene Almoite. “More often than not, parents are also unsure about the lessons given to the students and are unable to help them.”