RECENTLY, Undersecretary for Finance and DepEd Spokesperson Annalyn M. Sevilla posted on her official Facebook Page that the House Committee on Basic Education has approved a resolution that provides academic ease in K-12, so that all students can pass in this time of pandemic.
In a news report published in ABS-CBN News online, it stated that the committee headed by Pasig Representative Roman Romulo has agreed to leave it to the Department of Education (DepEd) to draft guidelines to give academic ease to students as well as their teachers.
House Resolution (HR) No. 1383 requesting DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) to allow public and private educational institutions in the country to adopt a pass or drop grading system by the end of the school year 2020 to 2021 is now currently pending in the lower house.
It was also stated in the news report that this is also the purpose of House Bill (HB) No. 7961 requesting scholastic leniency for the said school year to protect the mental health of K-12 students.
Moreover, at the hearing, Romulo insisted that it would be better to leave the matter to DepEd and that it is no longer required by law especially since only one school year will be affected by the loosening of the rules on students' studies.
In a statement, DepEd Assistant Secretary Alma Torio said that they already have a policy in relation to remediation classes especially as some students may fail because they do not follow the rules for conducting online classes to prevent their failure.
She further said that DepEd had issued a memorandum entitled Strategies in the Implementation of Multiple Modalities and said issuances have given the utmost consideration of our learners who are at risk of failing by conducting remediation classes by the subject teachers.
Asec Torio added that once we see that the children are at risk, we need to take a measure to help them so that we can really say that no one should be left behind.
As a result, the committee decided to draft a resolution and amend the provisions of HB 7691 and HR 1383.
Further, the new resolution will include the request for academic leniency to DepEd, Ched, and all academic institutions in the country for the academic calendar 2020 to 2021.
It also includes the request to have a workload easing without sacrificing the quality of education in the country.
This Corner hopes that whatever law will be passed and approved, it will ease the conditions of our learners and teachers in this time of pandemic due to Covid-19.