ATTENTION dear teachers! Education Secretary Leonor “Liling” Mirasol Magtolis-Briones said that modular learning is expensive and has a big effect on the environment. This decision from the Department of Education (DepEd) matriarch is another mind-boggling undertaking for the teachers.
A few weeks ago, teachers were subjected to “ra-ta-tat” pressure because the modules for the learners should be prepared ahead of the opening of the school year. Poor teachers have to stay late at night to beat the compulsion. Preparing the modules is not just that easy with the demands coming from supervisors, principals, and department heads down to the classroom teachers.
After a thorough review and quality check, the modules are reproduced. Some schools do not have bond paper, ink and even lack printer for the publication. Teachers have to spend their money, solicit from friends, or see the politicians. At last, the modules for the first grading are now available but more modules are to be made for the next grading period.
Classroom teachers are not even sure if all the modules they have prepared could be used. Why? They are also expecting modules from DepEd central office prepared by the “experts.” To be safe, the teachers are just preparing their own modules and sometimes without the proper assistance of the supervisors and department heads. That is ridiculous!
At the start of the pandemic, it was made clear by Secretary Briones that DepEd would have blended education and when there is no more threat from the virus, the learners can just go back to face-to-face education. Learning in upland and shoreline public schools using the virtual platform encountered problems because of poor internet connection and frequent power interruption.
Here comes Secretary Briones with her latest emphatic statement, “I hope for schools to eventually reduce dependence on modular learning as the country gradually transitions into distance learning as an alternative mode amid the pandemic.” Can we speculate that next year, during the third grading period, all classes will be online?
She ventured to say further that if we keep on using paper for the modules, the time will come that there will be no more trees standing in our country. With this, our environment will suffer. I beg to disagree because, in the Philippines, we have commercial tree farmers that could supply the needs. That is funny because toilet paper manufacturers will also stop their production if we have to follow that logic. Can some of us manage to live without the wipe?
The secretary wants learners to ultimately land into distance learning using technology as a preparation for global competition. It is looked forward also that our students can be partners also of other students in other countries using the digital platform of learning modality.
DepEd is also explaining that there was a lack of funds and supplies that caused the delay in the printing of educational materials. This came as a surprise for the teachers because President Duterte gave his words to Secretary Briones that his administration will support DepEd all the way. Was that another slip of the tongue, slip of the mind, or just another joke to remember?
There is a school of thought being circulated that the fully online or distance learning could be connected to the incoming telephone company based in China. The first clients are the teachers of DepEd and they will also serve as model users for their students to follow and then the rest will just be history. This may sound malicious but could be true. It takes more than intelligence to act intelligently.
Granting that our service providers are perfectly okay, this full online education could only be appreciated by young teachers with excellent qualifications. Mentors who are in the pre-departure area of their teaching career may opt to retire earlier. It is hard to learn new tricks if you are within the twilight zone. You may take the challenge if you believe that without the push, the pull is useless. This could be a new business and China is our partner. Good luck teachers!*