By Gillian M. Cortez, Reporter

THE APPROACH of the new school year while the pandemic remains uncontained is filling many with dread, including the students who may have to spend large parts of it cooped up at home, staring at screens, away from their friends.

Karla Martinez, an incoming university freshman, said the thought of another unusual school experience is “devastating.”

“It’s depressing to think (that) you can’t do anything about it. You have to follow the rules,” she said. COVID-19 has already caused her to miss milestones like her Senior High School graduation. It also denied her the opportunity to experience things will serve her well at the next level of her education, like working with a group to put together a thesis, as well as the pressure cooker of the thesis defense itself.

“We had school requirements we weren’t able to pass. We had to pass our thesis unfinished,” Ms. Martinez said.

When President Rodrigo R. Duterte first ordered the Luzon lockdown in mid-March, Ms. Martinez lost the remainder of her school year, which had a few unexpected consequences — like losing a sense of purpose “because it affected my education.”

The education sector consists of nearly a million teachers and millions more students. The lockdown first announced in Luzon was followed by similar lockdowns in other areas. Where possible, educators and students worked out their lessons remotely. Some schools made the difficult decision to cut the school year short.

The old reliance on traditional classroom learning, and the growing realization that the old ways may no longer be workable, have sent educators scrambling for new ways of doing things — while absorbing the cost and toughing out the transition to the new methods.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) have said that distance learning requires special preparation and investment. Some private schools have upgraded their systems or launched online portals, which allow students who own computers and devices to keep up.

Graduate student Noah Shen Datinginoo is no stranger to alternative pathways to learning, including online portals and apps. While her remote pursuit of Biology studies is facilitated by computers, her constraint is the reliability of her internet connection. She also notes that non-classroom channels may not work out for everyone.

“We have different styles of learning. Some can keep up via online classes but there are a lot of factors (that can interfere) especially internet quality. It’s difficult. I would say distance learning effectiveness is 50/50. I’m not 100% sold on it,” she said. When her connection failed, Ms. Datinginoo found herself asking her professor to repeat what they just said.

“It’s a good thing they are patient.”

Private-school teacher Rodney De Leon, who handles grade school and high school students, has found the pandemic learning experience manageable, though the biggest downside of the new reality is a diminished ability to monitor what his students are actually absorbing. He regrets his inability to personally judge whether the student has succeeded in taking in the lessons.

“Student supervision is a challenge because in a face-to-face setting you can see who is cheating or who’s doing their work honestly. (Online), you’ll never know if someone is copying the answer from the internet or is asking for help. Some teachers overlook that,” he said.

Classes will resume in August for K-12 schools, while tertiary institutions have the option to open, depending on the delivery systems for teaching. Schools are scrambling to prepare curricula with an eye towards selecting appropriate subject matter and adjusting for the many ways in which pupils learn.

Teachers Dignity Coalition National Chairman Benjo Basas said in the case of K-12 teachers, the sudden shift to learning outside the classroom has raised the issue of inequality in accessing the online classes.

“We do not oppose the opening of classes on Aug. 24. What we are saying is the government should assure the system won’t leave behind any learner or family in this new modality of learning,” Mr. Basas said.

University of the Philippines (UP) College of Education Dean Jerome T. Buenviaje said the Philippines has a relatively young population, with a student population of 32 million, and the outcomes largely depend on two things: the teacher, and the student’s learning environment.

“Which is better, face-to-face or remote learning? I would say it depends. Quality education is not assured if you have face-to-face classes that you get quality education. It depends on the teacher and it depends on the learning environment you provide.”

Both the DepEd and CHEd have been trying to ensure the continuity of learning and the safety of all involved. Both agencies are pushing for blended learning, which combines traditional learning with out-of-classroom alternatives. While online learning is an option, blended learning will also employ printed modules, radio, and television.

As early as February, CHEd released guidelines for higher education institutions (HEIs), discouraging large crowds, prescibing hygiene and health standards, and establishing screening protocols. Some HEIs suspended classes when the first cases of community-transmitted COVID-19 emerged in March while others sought to complete the semester online. Others decided to suspend their school year.

In May, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) issued its Omnibus Quarantine Guidelines, which permit HEIs operating under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) to conduct face-to-face classes when the school year begins, but with capacity restrictions.

HEIs that opt for online classes are permitted to conduct classes any time while those planning to implement flexible learning can open in August. Those opting for face-to-face instruction are not allowed to start before September.

Meanwhile, the DepEd is making its own tweaks to ensure learning is effective.

Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado M. San Antonio said the game plan is basically to supplement online classes with printed self-learning modules.

“There are materials that are almost ready to be shared with our own field officials for reproduction and contextualization but some have yet to be submitted because they are in the process of quality-assuring the learning resources that have been prepared,” he said.

Mr. San Antonio said modules have been around for some time as a contingency against emergencies and natural disasters. But the scale of the requirements during the pandemic is unprecedented.

“What we are doing now is really scaling up. In the past, we only prepared a few alternative delivery modules.”

The DepEd is also working to train teachers to deal with the sudden shift, and noted that parents can play a part — but not all of them.

Mr. Basas said, “Not all parents are able to help out… Can they teach their kids? Also, after the pandemic and the lockdowns, the main focus of families, especially poor families, is earning a living. Maybe parents won’t be able to juggle this.”

Mr. San Antonio acknowledged that not all parents will be there to supervise their children’s lessons, and to fill the gap, the department will enlist volunteer tutors among college graduates, teacher applicants, or displaced workers who can be trained. DepEd said such volunteers could help parents unable to home-school, especially if the children are in the lower grades.

Mr. Basas said the shift to online learning will stress the internet infrastructure and may leave students in far-flung areas behind.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is currently in talks with both the DepEd and CHEd to provide free wi-fi in schools.

Mr. San Antonio said students in areas with weak connectivity will not be left behind if they are provided modules. He added, “traditional printed learning modules have also been found to be effective.”

For the long haul, everything is up in the air until the availability of a vaccine — the one prerequisite President Rodrigo R. Duterte has cited before ordering students back to school.

Ms. Datinginoo, the biology graduate student, said hands-on laboratory experiments and fieldwork might be where online learning hits a wall. She has had to defer these aspects of her eductaion.

Ms. Martinez, the incoming college freshman, said the new environment will require a major adjustment as she has known only classroom teaching.

Mr. De Leon said his default preference is also the classroom.

“There are pros and cons but I will always prefer the traditional classroom setting because as a teacher, it’s not just lecturing. That’s part of it, but I can also get to relate to my students personally and… can adjust my lessons because I can see how they work, how they react, how they perform,” he said.

Mr. Basas said that while the new environment will require learners to adapt to other modalities, it should not go on indefinitely. “It is not normal, and what is not normal will never be sustainable especially if you’re talking about the long term, and you’re talking about education.”

Nevertheless, Mr. Basas said delaying education may do more harm than good, as many students were falling behind even before the COVID-19 crisis.

“We have to be prepared given the limited time and resources. We have to make the most out of it,” Mr. Basas said. He added the government and private schools should also ensure the security of teachers, since blended learning will require them to leave their homes and increase their exposure.

Mr. Buenviaje said remote learning should only be resorted to in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 and “should be all temporary in nature.”

He added that the suspension of face-to-face classes could offer opportunities to innovate. “It is also a chance for us to fight for the right of the Filipino children now in this time of emergency and that is non-negotiable.”

Mr. San Antonio added the key is to keep students motivated, adding that DepEd is ready to adapt and adjust to any problems.

“I think if we do it well the first time, we should not be worried about how it’s going to be done in the future. We assure everybody that even if we are doing new things on a massive scale, we are ready to reconfigure the strategy if needed,” Mr. San Antonio said.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR