MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) intends to focus on the basics – reading and mathematics or arithmetic – as it seeks to address the serious learning gaps among school children who were locked down and learned remotely for two years of the pandemic.
Lawyer Michael Poa, DepEd spokesman, said the department has been undergoing an assessment of the learning competencies of Kindergarten to Grade 10 students, as well as a curriculum review, noting deficiencies in reading competencies among Grade 1 students.
“We are really geared towards having in-person classes because we really saw that it is beneficial to have interaction between students and physically being in class, and physically being monitored and taught by our teachers,” Poa told “The Chiefs” on One News Thursday in a virtual interview.
“Not just reading. (Also) math, we are really falling behind,” Poa said. “Affected are the Grade 1 learners. This is our main focus now, in terms of reading, mathematics.”
“Since we are currently doing the K-10 review, what we plan to do is to decongest our current curriculum, go back to the basics. And really focus on those areas,” Poa said.
He added that the DepEd will also address the area of teachers’ teaching competencies for reading and math.
“And of course, included there is to really train them, our teachers, in terms of teaching reading and mathematics,” Poa said.
“We can always change the curriculum, but when it comes to the teachers, we also have to focus our attention so that they are also prepared to teach these basic skills. They do need training,” Poa said.
“In fact, we are about to launch a national reading program to address those who are really having difficulties in learning reading and mathematics because they have had no school interaction and (have not) learned reading in the company of their peers,” Poa said.
“We have already formed a TWG, a technical working group, to solidify a National Reading Program. The mathematics part is also in the pipeline. And we want to do the same, we want to replicate a national program for mathematics,” he said.
“We will be decongesting our current curriculum. The observation was that our current curriculum is highly congested with so many learning competencies,” the official concluded.
Decision
Meanwhile, Poa said the decision on whether to stick to the Nov. 2 deadline for schools to implement full in-person classes is for the President to make.
He said they are now preparing a report that will be submitted to President Marcos.
“As of late last week, we have started asking for reports from our regional directors to know how many schools are implementing blended learning and how many are implementing full distance learning as well as the reasons why,” Poa said.
“Because this discussion will be at the Cabinet level so the President can decide on how to go forward and the ways forward in terms of the options we gave,” Poa explained.
The DepEd had rolled out in-person classes for schools that decided to implement it in the opening of classes last Aug. 22 after two years of remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Poa said that as of last monitoring done by DepEd, around 98 percent of schools are either implementing five-days of in-person classes or blended learning modality. Over 49.5 percent of schools have five-day in person classes and around 48 percent are implementing a blended learning format.
Asked about the status of COVID-19 detection in schools, Poa said that the DepEd was leaving the dissemination of this information to local government units (LGUs).
He said there were local epidemiology surveillance units (LESUs) of LGUs in charge of monitoring the COVID-19 positive cases detected in schools. “The school will have to report cases of COVID in LESUs for LESUs to verify and also to follow-up. We are deferring to the LESUs on the number,” he said.
He admitted that there have been positive COVID-19 cases recorded in schools. “What we are watching for would be surges. We are monitoring the situation to avoid any surge that will exhaust our critical care system here,” he stressed.
Poa said the inability of schools to implement blended learning was due to lack of infrastructure and not fear among school heads of holding in-person classes.
He also cited the recent spate of calamities such as the Northern Luzon earthquake and the onslaught of Super Typhoon Karding.
“That being said, we are in the process of really trying to meet that shortage, whether it be through temporary learning spaces or talking to the LGUs for spaces that we can use in the meantime to hold classes for our 5-day in-person (classes),” he said.