VICE President Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio, who holds the Department of Education portfolio, has been resolute about sending pupils and teachers back to the classroom. I can only surmise that it is because she heard reports about the dismal performance of basic education pupils under the system of virtual delivery. But this is just one of those matters that get thrown around in conversation — without the backing of hard evidence.

To say that our basic education pupils have fared badly during the pandemic and to claim that this was due to the method of the delivery of instruction is to make two different assertions needing two different sets of proof. And to establish a causal connection between the two is an even more difficult research venture — considering the many intervening variables that come into play.