By Modesto P. Sa-onoy
To avoid getting the children in schools where physical distancing in nigh impossible, the Department of Education looks at television and radio as options for distance learning because these two electronic media are believed available in most homes. How true is that?
Research shows that there are 18.7 million households in the Philippines that watch television, 52% of Filipinos still own a radio but most of them are in the areas serviced with electricity. Most, but not all, have these electronic media. Some rural schools have no electrical connections.
Those without access to electronic media are, of course, the exception but with the assumption that most will be served discriminates against children without and thus practically excludes them for schooling.
The result could be an army of incompetent citizenry or poorly educated elementary school graduates, thus compounding their inability to manage in higher education or secure a good job.
Other modes for home-based learning being eyed include door-to-door delivery of worksheets which will require large number of workers. There are also proposed take-home learning activity sheets, and take-home portfolio completions but these approaches need a competent parent or adult at home. Will kids go to school to “take home” their lessons and get back to school to submit them?
Perhaps there is no time in our history, except during the war when parents face a greater challenge in the education of their children. To many the risk to the children’s health “far outweighs the benefits of continuing education.” Simply said, they prefer that their kids skip the schooling until the cure is found.
Moreover, are the parents willing to take a more active role in the education of their children? Home schooling is a heavy burden for parents and guardians who must juggle work obligations and helping their children, granting they too are educated enough to understand the new system or even the subjects under study.
There is another aspect to the problem. The pandemic has affected many parents in their ability to pay for basic needs, including education because many lost their jobs after the implementation of quarantine measures.
Data from the Department of Labor showed that about one million workers nationwide have been displaced due to temporary business closures and flexible work arrangements. About 300,000 to 400,000 overseas Filipino workers were estimated to be affected by layoffs and salary cuts, according to a research paper by Ateneo de Manila University.
In fact, many overseas workers support not just their families but even nieces and nephews. These will have to forego higher education that are not addressed by the DepEd because collegiate courses are under the Commission on High Education where distant learning might be workable to a higher degree.
There are two options now open – continue with schooling and use the different options presented by DepEd or just cancel this school year and wait for a better time.
However, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization urges governments and civil society “to ensure that learning does not end.” UNESCO is inclined to support distance learning, but to what extent will this succeed because of our inadequate facilities?
The possibility is to save majority of the children from a year without schooling. The greatest good to the greatest number.
The DepEd said parents must help their children adjust to non-physical setup and deal with fear of technology. It added that it is doing everything it can within the “realm of possibility” to continue learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The department cautioned that “in the meantime, you cannot have nine months of idle children being restrained in their homes. Making them stay at home and having no classes, no learning at all because we are afraid” is not a good option. “We have to work around that fear,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said.
Indeed, all parents are afraid, and so are the teachers because they had been whipped out to be afraid. As President Franklin Roosevelt said, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
On the other hand, it is better to be wrong on the side of caution than risking against an unidentifiable enemy.
There are lots of feedbacks on the plans of DepEd, but I see two most vital concerns: lack of facilities, and inability of the parents to handle the task due to their level of competence and time.
