THE Department of Education (DepEd) is pushing for the institutionalization of blended learning mode in a bid to address the country's shortage in classrooms.
In a press conference on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in MalacaƱang, DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa said the agency is embarking on a two-track approach to address the lack of classrooms.
"Alongside the traditional solutions of building more classrooms and hiring more teachers, we also want to tap into technology, (one of the) lessons we learned during the pandemic," he said.
"Kasi noong pandemya, na-realize natin na puwede pala iyong blended learning, puwede pala iyong online classes. So, we want to use that to be able to decongest our schools. This will effectively and efficiently resolve iyong issues...as to teachers' shortage and classroom shortage in a quicker span of time," he added.
(Because during the pandemic, we realized that blended learning is possible; online classes are possible. So, we want to use that to be able to decongest our schools. This will effectively and efficiently resolve your issues...as to teachers' shortage and classroom shortage in a quicker span of time.)
The matter was discussed as the DepEd and Commission on Higher Education (Ched) presented to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. their accomplishment ahead of the President's second State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Poa said the DepEd is making sure that the program to be adopted for the implementation of blended learning is effective to ensure quality education.
The DepEd and Ched are working hand-in-hand to improve the country's education system.
In January, education secretary Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio said the agency is revising the Kinder to Grade 12 (K to 12) curriculum.
She launched the "Matatag" education agenda, which aims to ensure the quality education in the country, as well as the welfare of the learners and the teachers.
Duterte said that while the K to 12 program promised to produce employable graduates, most of those who finished the program still find the need to pursue higher education in order to find employment, citing a study conducted by the Bureau of Curriculum Development that showed that 83 percent of the respondents pursued higher education while only a little over 10 percent of graduates were employed after graduating from the program.
She said the program was found to be "congested" and that some prerequisites of identified learning competencies are missing or misplaced in the curriculum and that the significant number of learning competencies cater to higher cognitive demands.
Duterte said that in revising the K to 12 curriculum, the department will reduce the number of learning areas in Kindergarten to Grade 3 from seven to five, and instead put focus on foundational skills; strengthen literacy and numeracy programs; revitalize reading, science and technology and math programs by utilizing the gains of previous programs; and improve English proficiency while recognizing linguistic diversity.
After the implementation of blended learning from 2020 to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools have returned to the conduct of face-to-face classes in August 2022.
Over 28.4 million learners went back to school since August 2022. (SunStar Philippines)