Mag-uno kaha sila inig sulig nila?… This query often
comes to the mind when one sees innocent children doing things nonchalantly.
Most learned adults also ask this question silently when they encounter
children on the streets aimlessly. Teachers and educators will then wonder what
happens to young people who will be deprived of education due to pressing
situations like COVID-19.
National data from
DepEd as of July 15, 2020, showed that the total number of enrollees for SY
2020-2021 has reached 20,220,507 nationwide for Kindergarten to Grade 12,
including Alternative Learning System (ALS) and non-graded learners with
disabilities. This is 72.7 percent of SY 2019-2020 enrollment turnout at 27.7
million.
The enrollment data
also showed that 19,145,129 million learners have enrolled in public schools
and 1,050,434 registered in private schools. This upcoming SY’s enrolment in
public schools is 84.8% of last year and the registration in private schools is
24.3% of SY 2019-2020.
All of these learners
will undergo distance learning since the government prohibits face-to-face
schooling. And 80% of these learners will have the modular delivery where they
will receive worksheets and modules to work on for the school days until the
COVID-19 pandemic cease to threaten the world’s health status.
The statistics above
are not just faceless entities. They are real people with families. They are
young minds with needs, feelings and social responsibilities which will hone
them to be the future leaders. But with depleting resources and the novel
learning delivery mode that the school system has, what could be expected of
the young?
Social interactions play important
parts of development throughout childhood, and spending time with peers is
typically part of that process. But child psychologists also mention that
parents must not worry too much. Children tend to be resilient and adaptable,
they said. There is much to be gained from interactions with parents, siblings
and even pets. Time alone is valuable, too. And connection through technology,
like hanging out or playing games through video chats, can fill in some of the
blanks. Even without peer interaction for a while, kids can still develop
socially and emotionally in ways that will prepare them to pursue real-world
friendships when those can resume (Sohn, 2020).
Yet, we then remember
those young learners who are financially-challenged. What about those children
who have dysfunctional families? What can their psychological foundations be?
What about the facilitation of their learning once distance education starts?
Who will act as learning facilitators in a topsy-turvy environment?
In the ideal
envisioned distance learning approach, parents would have an active role. They
would facilitate and guide their children through the modular lessons that
would be sent to students undergoing remote learning. However, this loomed as a
big challenge to students who do not have anyone to facilitate learning at
home.
"There are
parents who are "no-read, no-write." They are sending their children
to school because they don’t want their children to be like them. Who would
teach the students now at home? This kind of modular learning is really
difficult. Not all parents are capable of guiding their children," said a
public elementary school teacher in Laguna, in a previous interview with
Rappler.
It can be gleaned
that the Philippines is allocating a lot of funds for education as reflected in
the GAA (General Appropriations Act). The education sector got P654.77 billion,
a combined allocation from the DepEd and its attached agencies (P521.35
billion), the State Universities and Colleges (P73.72 billion), and the
Commission on Higher Education (P46.73 billion). This is for fiscal year 2020.
But how can the
billions of pesos be translated into LEARNING?
With the onslaught of
the novel corona virus, the government is concentrating on the pressing health
issue. Thus, the decision to have distance learning was made. What will become
of the struggling population of young learners who do not have the
psycho-social readiness?
Rarkryan P. Angdhiri
(2020) posits: As reported by students who participated in the dry run of
modular learning, this was confusing to adjust to as they had not been prepared
through simulations or practices beforehand. Students reported the
home-learning program to be even more stressful than regular classrooms. Some also
say that the workload of remote classes is larger than that of regular classes.
The general consensus is that home-learning programs — although highly
beneficial and a good alternative to school as schools are closed — still
require some getting used to by students, as it is a novel concept and not many
are experienced with them.
There are impending
problems that the teachers and school administrators will be facing once the
school year opens on October 5, 2020. They can only prepare their armors and
steadfast belief that competence and hard work can make things happen.
We were unprepared
with what the virus sent to the world. We can only hope that our resilience as
a people will allow us to adjust in the somewhat cliché “new normal”.
Still, we must continue
putting up a strong fight to let the children learn since education is the backbone
of nation building.
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