22 million back to school under ‘new normal’

MANILA, Philippines — For the first time in the country’s history, 22 million public elementary and high school students begin today their classes for a new academic year without stepping out of their houses.

Curriculum Year 2020-2021 finally begins in 47,000 public schools nationwide after four months of delay due to the coronavirus disease pandemic.

But unlike previous school years, campus gates will not welcome any students or teachers as community quarantine restrictions compelled the Department of Education (DepEd) to resort to remote learning approaches.

There will be no face-to-face classes. Students will learn in the safety of their homes, guided remotely by teachers and in person by their parents or guardians – who will play a bigger role in their education this year, the DepEd said.

“The shift to the new blended learning is the first in history,” said Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla.

“Never has the department been more arduous and committed to make this transition happen… We continue to work together to address concerns and improve the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP),” she added.

The LCP is the cornerstone of preparations for the new school year and outlines the different interventions to be adopted by DepEd in response to the impact of the pandemic.

From a trimmed-down curriculum to a list of remote learning approaches that students and their parents can choose from, the LCP is a guide for all stakeholders preparing for the new normal in basic education.

Blended learning

When President Duterte declared that schools will not open until a vaccine is available, policymakers focused on adopting different distance learning strategies to continue education at home.

As such, students will not be exposed to the risk of infection.

Officials said physical classes may be allowed in low-risk areas by January, subject to strict health and safety protocols and compliance to a set of guidelines that have yet to be released.

In its LCP, DepEd identified three primary distance learning options: modular or the use of digital or printed module; use of online platforms such as the DepEd Commons; and education through radio and television.

A combination of any of these learning strategies constitutes the blended learning approach, which DepEd said would make it more inclusive as it provides options depending on the capacity and the capability of households.

During the enrollment period, DepEd conducted a survey, which included questions on the capacity of households to adopt the new learning strategies.

Initial data released in July showed that most households – or 8.8 million parents surveyed – prefer modules. Only 3.3 million chose online learning and 1.4 million favored education via TV and radio.

The survey also showed that a lack of available gadgets, insufficient mobile data allowance, and unstable internet connection were among the primary concerns of parents.

DepEd stated that gadgets and internet connectivity are not mandatory in adopting blended learning.

It said the modular approach makes use of printed learning materials to be provided to the students, who will complete the activity sheets included in the modules.

Enrollment

In June, DepEd mobilized public schools and other stakeholders in a nationwide enrollment initiative to determine how many students are inclined to return this school year.

The end of the month-long enrollment showed that only 14.5 million students signed up, down by almost 40 percent from last year’s 22.57 million student population.

Over the past months, however, public school enrollment surged, reaching 22.502 million as of Friday, or almost 100 percent of last year’s figures.

This number, however, also includes over 400,000 transferees from private schools, where enrollment is still low at 2.166 million or 50 percent of the previous academic year.

Late enrollees will still be accepted, DepEd officials said.

Learning materials

For months, DepEd has been racing against time to produce, reproduce and distribute the learning materials to students for this school year.

Moving the opening of classes from the original date of Aug. 24 to Oct. 5, bought DepEd some time.

As of Sept. 27, it has distributed over 533.2 million printed modules comprising almost 80 percent of the 667.6 million materials that have already been printed.

Last Saturday, Education Undersecretary Tonisito Umali said they expect most, if not all, of these materials to have been delivered before today’s opening.

But the printing and reproduction are far from over because the distributed modules only cover the first grading period.

Some parents claimed they only received materials good for two weeks, with another round of distribution set after the first week of classes.

As such, DepEd officials are now considering the possibility of module sharing or shifting to digital modules in the succeeding quarters.

Broadcast-based instruction

On broadcast-based instruction, Umali said there are already 3,120 video lessons and 3,445 radio episodes that are ready to be aired in some 207 television channels and 162 radio stations nationwide.

The TV and radio class episodes will complement the education materials delivered through other modes of learning.

From the initial 130 episodes per week covering the major subjects, DepEd said it intends to expand the coverage to 220 episodes per week for all subjects starting January.

The episodes will include those that use local languages to make it more effective for kindergarten to Grade 3 learners. All episodes will also have sign language embedded in the lectures.

DepEd has 32 production teams composed of 107 teacher-broadcasters and 72 production staff.

DepEd Undersecretary for administration Alain Pascua said they intend to train a team of 300 teacher-broadcasters and 500 production personnel to ensure that all requirements of the K-12 curriculum are met.

Are we ready?

As early as August, education officials have repeatedly maintained that they are ready for the opening of classes, citing dry runs conducted in most schools.

But for some groups, preparations are not enough.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) noted reports of teachers having to shell out their own money to cover expenses related to school opening preparations.

It reiterated its call to implement adequate health measures to ensure the safety of teachers, students and other stakeholders.

“This government remains to be unresponsive to the people’s just and urgent demands in relation to school opening at the height of the health and socio-economic crisis. This is a huge disservice to the Filipino people and a violation of the youth’s fundamental right to education,” said ACT secretary general Raymond Basilio.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition called for assistance in terms of communication and technology in order to facilitate the distance learning modality and raised concerns in the use of printed learning modules instead of textbooks.

Citing millions who have yet to enroll this school year, E-Net Philippines urged the government to address the needs of the poor and disadvantaged sectors for inclusive and quality education in the new normal.

Updated calendar

Yesterday, the DepEd released the updated academic calendar, which authorized schools to conduct distance learning activities on Saturdays except when prohibited due to religious considerations.

The school year, which will end on June 11, will have a total of 205 class days. “Summer” classes will end on July 23, while Christmas break will be from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3.

For the Holy Week, classes will only be suspended on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Black Saturday or from April 1 to 3.

The DepEd also released an interim grading system, which outlines possible assessment tools that may be used in the distance learning setup. These include written outputs, projects and performance tasks.

Pending guidelines include those covering hiring para-teachers or learner support aides; the grant of communication expense for teachers; and the release of cash assistance to teachers and students under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.