Amid the adverse crisis brought about by the continuing pandemic to the country’s educational system, learning institutions have to address together their common concerns.
Presently, the government is still wary of face-to-face classes, while some parents, educators, psychologists and pediatricians are concerned about the holistic and healthy development of children given the limited mobility.
Furthermore, government as well as the entire country, must be visibly alarmed by the recent World Bank report stating that over 80 percent of Filipino students fall below the minimum proficiency levels.
Thus, the Mandaue Organization of Private Schools Administrators Inc. (Mopsai) was born! Its vision? To become a model of collaboration and synergy to be able to foster professional growth and development in education, said Marivic Bathan, its newly re-elected president.
Through Mopsai, private schools in Mandaue have a common voice, and they need to co-exist and complement each other, especially in light of the changes in government policies due to the pandemic.
At the peak of school closures in April 2020, 94 percent of students—or 1.6 billion children—were out of school worldwide, the World Bank pointed out. Currently, about 700 million students are still studying from home.
In an atmosphere of huge uncertainty, families and schools have to navigate across remote learning or none at all. A partnership was also formed between Mopsai and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) center for leaders to strengthen bonds among members, develop the organization’s resilience and, facilitate in drafting Mopsai’s strategic directions.
Relevant webinars were conducted such as “PLANdemic: School re-entry and new normal operations amidst Covid-19,” to help guide Mopsai members on how to reopen safely. Discussion centered on the return to school roadmap, which provides a checklist to determine readiness of schools for physical classes.
Another collaboration was forged between Mopsai and the Department of Education (DepEd), for private schools to be guided and assisted as they face the new normal. DepEd Mandaue will lend a helping hand in monitoring and compliance.
DepEd will also be requiring private schools to register their students in the DepEd Learner information system wherein members will be provided with a permanent Learner Reference Number (LRN).
A new set of officers for school year 2021-2022, are fully committed to attain aspirations for their institutions: Children’s Paradise Montessori School’s Bathan as president; Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Senior High school principal Annie Abucay and University of Cebu - Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue principal Gloria Deniega as vice president and secretary, respectively.
Academia de San Jose PAASCU and PCSS compliance supervisor Maria Alma Flores will be treasurer; Intellisense Institute of Technology president Gregoria Flores will be auditor; and Trade Tech International Science Institute principal Eudes Dayanan and Center for Health Care Professions Cebu Inc. OIC school head Jerome Tago will be the mass media officers.
Best of luck to this committed group!