SENATOR Gatchalian is skeptical of the readiness of the Department of Education (DepEd) in the opening of the school year this August 24, 2020. The basic education continuous learning plan was presented during one of their consultations but seemingly, the details of this framework were unclear. Senator Nancy Binay commented that the devil is in the details recognizing the loopholes of the current educational footing in relation to the school year’s opening.
We will encounter numerous problems in utilizing distance learning in the early months of the academic school year. First is the lack of resources (budget in particular) to address the challenges emerging from this strategy. The other difficulty lies in the horrific internet speed in the country. Sad and embarrassing. We hope that by the last quarter of the year we have already achieved massive progress in containing the spread of the virus that would permit DepEd to go back to the face to face teaching-learning instruction, or else things will get worse. Until that day, we will try to make distance learning work. The world’s medical giants are racing for the development of vaccine but no experts can confirm its availability. Without the vaccine, education must have to adjust and adapt to this situation.
Distance learning signifies that we will get away with the usual classroom instruction. The mere thought of instruction outside the classroom is baffling. We have online courses today but these are usually conducted in higher education, not in basic education. This implies that students of online learning have a clear academic focus. For distance learning, the primary tool for instruction is modular. Teachers develop modules for the students. The module can either be sent to the students online or students get them directly from their schools.
There are various issues to be addressed related to modular learning considering the volume of our learners’ numbers. Accordingly, we have around 27 million students in the basic education program expected to enroll once schooling resumes. This is a new situation and so we need information on our learners to know the most appropriate action to be done. DepEd is doing a lot of surveys study now and this is a good sign. I just hope that these data received from these surveys along with related studies become the bases of policies and directives to be formed. We need data from enrollees who have internet access at home. If they have access, is the internet speed enough for them to do their activities or download their modules? We must also know what kind of gadgets they use in their internet access. Having a cellular phone may give them access to the internet but are these phones equipped with applications to Microsoft office programs where modules are usually written?
Data obtained from students and parents can tell us the nature of the challenges in applying distance learning. Studies are conducted to learn all the areas of concern, not only the classification of data. For instance, it does not mean that since most of the surveyed students and parents have internet access, DepEd division offices or schools concerned shall only resort to modules to be answered online.
I do not know the entire content of the Basic Education Continuous Learning Plan (BE-CLP) but the framework of education revolves around distance learning as the main strategy of the teaching-learning instruction. Again, I hope we only get to use this measure in the early months of the school year because this system surely does not give justice to all sorts of learners. The poor students suffer more. This is always the trend. There is no personal computer so they have to go to computer shops which offer limited services due to the social distancing policy. They have to pay for their modules in case the government passes this burden to them. Poor parents cannot fully supervise their children which is a necessity in modular learning because they have to work.
If the government through DepEd succeeds – meaning there is a smooth transition from the face to face instruction to distance learning and there are fewer complaints, then half of the problem is perhaps solved. The other half is on attaining quality education in utilizing distance learning. Can distance learning cope with the strict demands of learning? How much quality are we sacrificing in adopting distance learning for the sake of an on-time school opening? I consent with the class opening schedule provided that we are ready to pay attention to all the problems that come with it. It means that the needs arise must be given urgent consideration. The education force (I am part of it) must ensure that the resumption of classes is not just for the sake of opening a school year but the attainment of quality based on a global standard. If we do not have this in mind, I am willing to wait for another school year opening.
Since DepEd has already decided to open the school year in August, we can only cooperate in ensuring that the students of this school year receive their fair share of quality education.