Solon pushes pandemic preparedness in K+12

CEBU, Philippines —  Pandemic preparedness should be made part of the K+12 basic education curriculum to better equip children against disease outbreaks in the “new normal,” a lawmaker said.

“Pandemic preparedness must be taught as early as kindergarten and up to Grade 12 if we want to create a culture of preparedness and infection control in homes and schools,” Rep. Bernadette Herrera of party-list Bagong Henerasyon suggested.

“We need to make pandemic preparedness a lifestyle by introducing it to children at an early age. I’m sure children will relay whatever they have learned to their parents and everyone at home,” she said.

Herrera, deputy majority leader of the House, said that preparing children for pandemics has to be incorporated in the educational system so that any future crisis can be dealt with in an easier way.

She noted that both the World Health Organization and UNICEF said that children should be engaged in some activities to make them understand the protocols of their safety during any pandemic, such as frequent hand washing, social distancing, avoiding handshakes etc.

Pilot testing pushed

Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas also proposed that it would be best, if not better, for the Department of Education to pilot test the country’s first-ever “blended learning” modes in select public schools first.

“DepEd should consider pilot testing various forms of blended learning in select schools nationwide while sourcing additional funds for its implementation,” Vargas, a member of the House committee on basic education and culture, said.

“Using the experiences and feedback of stakeholders in the pilot tests, DepEd can implement blended learning more effectively later this year or even in January 2021,” he added.

He said DepEd could make the most out of the current challenges caused by the pandemic to education by “fine-tuning methods for distance learning before its nationwide implementation.”

Rep. Ronnie Ong of Ang Probinsiyano party-list also urged the DepEd to “make use” of the postponed Aug. 24 opening of classes to “prepare for the proposed transition from the conventional ‘face-to-face’ mode of teaching to the so-called blended type of learning.”

“Let’s take this opportunity and make it work for all stakeholders, as it would also give DepEd more time to better prepare for the Oct. 5 opening of classes. They can also use this time to complete all the tasks they need for the blended learning program,” he said.

Ong also recommend that DepEd direct private schools to stop requiring full payment of tuition and should allow semestral or quarterly payments because many parents are financially-challenged because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I just hope that DepEd would really require our private schools to also sacrifice a little, and give consideration for our parents. Kailangan po natin ngayon ay magtulungan at magbigayan,” he said.

According to Ong, the two-month window before the opening of classes should give DepEd enough time to fully equip their teachers with the necessary gadgets and instructional tools to cope with the blended learning system. — Philippine Star News Service, KQD (FREEMAN)