Insatiable

 

                                  (image: medium.com)

Kuyang pa! Yes, it is true that we are consumers. But it seems that we are obsessed of consuming even if we already have enough. What is the reason why you bought that new shirt when in fact you have around 20 of them? Is the 21^st significant or you just played the victim to consume more?

A marketing strategy refers to a business's overall game plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of the products or services the business provides. Peter Ducker aptly said that the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself. But it was Sergio Zyman who intelligently said that the sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often and at higher prices.

Have you ever wondered why cellular phones are constantly upgrading into new models? This is for the consumers to continuously buy them. If one stops and be contended with the old one, the business won’t thrive. Fashion is evolving. Without the new trends, why buy for more?

Products and events are marketed for the consumers to have more…

Take for instance the celebration of Halloween (which is not a Filipino tradition but a copied one). We see spaces being populated by the commercial establishments indirectly telling us that we must wear costumes. The social media sites are posting little kids doing “trick or treat” and we fall into that marketing stuff. We even fail to dig deeper why we encourage kids to be exposed to scary props with decapitated heads. We just want to do them since others are doing it! Costumes and customized items for the event are saleable during these induced events.

But, what is really is the deeper motivation of this?

It is said that without GREED we would still be living in caves but, left unchecked, the insatiable desire for more and better material things can be destructive.

The definition of greed is an extreme or excessive desire for resources, especially for property such as money, real estate, or other symbols of wealth (Taflinger, 1996). In basic terms, "excessive" is possessing something to such a degree it's harmful. But how could a desire for wealth be harmful? Every person needs a degree of wealth to survive: you need to buy food, pay the rent, clothing, transportation, haircuts, and cable TV. Without money, you could starve or freeze to death.

People who are consumed by greed become utterly fixated on the object of their greed. According to Neel Burton, M.D. (2020), their lives are reduced to little more than a quest to accumulate as much as possible of whatever it is they covet and crave. Even though they have met their every reasonable need and more, they are utterly unable to redirect their drives and desires to other and higher things.

These people are fixated to their desires and will forget to be humane. They see others as competition. They compare their possessions to others. With the social media sites where people display their acquired wealth, new clothes and travels, the need to have more intensifies.

The FOMO (fear of missing out) was theorized with the coming of the information technology. It refers to the feeling or perception that others are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you are. It involves a deep sense of envy and affects self-esteem. It is often exacerbated by social media sites like Instagram and Facebook (Scott, 2020).

Greed, Burton continues, is also associated with negative psychological states such as stress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and despair, and with maladaptive behaviors such as gambling, scavenging, hoarding, trickery, and theft. By overriding reason, compassion, and love, greed loosens family and community ties and undermines the bonds and values upon which society is built.

The psychologist Abraham Maslow called the bottom four levels of the NEED pyramid ‘deficiency needs’ because a person does not feel anything if they are met. Thus, physical needs such as eating, drinking, and sleeping are deficiency needs, as are security needs, social needs such as friendship and sexual intimacy, and ego needs such as self-esteem and peer recognition.

On the other hand, Maslow called the fifth level of the pyramid a ‘growth need’ because it enables a person to ‘self-actualize’, that is, to reach his or her highest or fullest potential as a human being. Once people have met all their deficiency needs, the focus of their anxiety shifts to self-actualization, and they begin—even if only at a subconscious or semiconscious level—to contemplate the context and meaning of their life and life in general.

With these theories, one can conclude that people who are still on their “deficiency needs” are the ones who are trying to accumulate more. They often feel empty even if they have enough since there is the absence of MEANING to their existence. Self-evaluation is necessary to transcend towards the next stage which has the “growth need”.

By doing so, the hunger to have more will be replaced by the need to have meaningful relationships, contribution to the society, humane and altruistic, and the spiritual awareness to be one with the universe.

The Will to Learn

 

                                            (photo: sunstar.com.ph)

Padajon! This was overheard as someone encouraged a student to endure the challenges encountered with the new learning modality. You see, a lot of the learners are given modules and worksheets which require them to read. Yet, reading is a least favorite among the learners. People who are even using social media sites skip those posts with lengthy words. They skip such blogs and proceed to a more visual and entertaining content.

People consume a lot of entertainment these days. The media platforms provide such to the point that hilarious posts and vlogs are the viral ones compared to the more serious and academic posts.

Phil (2017) posits: I think some people just aren't "built" to enjoy the written word as much as readers do. How long does it take you to read an average book? Let's say 10 hours. In that time someone else could watch 5 or 6 movies or hockey games or a whole season of Game of Thrones or play Call of Duty or just go talk with friends for 10 hours and they would get more pleasure than if they read the same book as you did. There's nothing wrong with them; we're all just different.

This is consistent to the theory of Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner. In his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, he suggested that all people have different kinds of "intelligences." In order to capture the full range of abilities and talents that people possess, Gardner theorizes that people do not have just an intellectual capacity, but have many kinds of intelligence, including musical, interpersonal, spatial-visual, and linguistic intelligences.

Differing intelligences require varied preferences. Probably, most of the learners now are not inclined to have linguistic intelligence.

According to Heick (2019), students are increasingly seeking briefer, more visual, social, and dynamic media. Because not only are these media forms effortlessly entertaining, they rarely require meaningful investment of themselves. And it is this kind of connection that makes reading–or any other media consumption for that matter–feel alive and vibrant and whole. When readers are younger, there is a natural ‘give’ between the reader and the text, their imaginations still raw and green and alive. But as readers grow older, there is less give–and more need for texts to be contextualized differently.

(But), data from Learner Enrollment and Survey Form (LESF) showed that 8.8 million parents preferred modular, over the 3.9 million who voted for blended learning, which is a combination of different modalities: module, television and radio or radio with online. Parents who opted for online only numbered 3.8 million (Ciriaco, 2020).

Since modular learning is the preferred modality, it is now time to adapt. It is expected that difficulties and challenges will be encountered since this is a novel delivery of lessons. Intelligent WILL must be embraced by both the parents and the learners.

Modern psychologists, according to Graeme (2011) often use the word volition in preference to “Will”. Volition is the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and commits to a particular course of action. It is defined as purposive striving, and is one of the primary human psychological functions (the others being affection [affect or feeling], motivation [goals and expectations] and cognition [thinking]).

The author continued that volitional processes can be applied consciously, and they can be automatized as habits over time. Most modern conceptions of volition address it as a process of action control that becomes automatized.

Within Gary Kielhofner’s “Model of Human Occupation” volition is one of the three sub-systems that act on human behavior. Within this model volition considers a person’s values, interests and beliefs about self-efficacy and personal capacity.

In this case, the cliché “If there’s a will, there’s a way” can be applied.

If modular learning is the most feasible way to continue learning, parents and learners must WILL themselves to gain a lot from it and allow the processes to hone their capacities NOT to curtail their mental development. Later, if this will become part of the norm, we will see the silver linings on the seemingly dark clouds.

Padajon!

 

 

Module Legends

                                      (image: read.cash)

Kaarang ini na modules! This is just one of the lines we overhear from TV and on the social media sites as the opening of classes took place on October 5 of this year.

Over 24 million elementary and high school students start their classes Monday after four months of delay due to the continuing threat of COVID-19 that has so far infected more than 322,000 people in the country. But unlike in previous years, campuses remain closed, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to suspend face-to-face classes until a vaccine against the new coronavirus becomes available. Instead, students will be learning from their homes through a mix of modular learning, online learning, and television and radio broadcasts (philstar.com).

Meanwhile, Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) held a sunrise protest at Mendiola in Manila on Monday, the first day of classes for school year 2020-2021, according to Super Radyo dzBB reporter Isa Avendaño-Umali. ACT Philippines secretary general Raymond Basilio said basic needs for blended learning such as printed modules were still not yet in place a day before classes were to start (gmanetwork.com).

Despite the protests of ACT and some parents, DepEd successfully opened School Year 2020-2021. Claiming victory over the coronavirus pandemic that forced students and teachers to shift to distance learning, Department of Education Secretary Leonor Briones formally declared Monday the start of the new academic year.

“Today, we celebrate a great victory. We declare our victory over COVID-19, the destroyer of our lives, the destroyer of our economy and our way of life and society. But we will not allow COVID-19 to destroy our children's education and their future,” Briones said (Cabico, 2020).

As the day progressed, pictures of teachers on top of school buildings looking for internet signal were shown; one was featured swimming a river to allegedly deliver modules to the other side and many situations which could oftentimes degrade the teaching profession. Of course, we understand human interest stories but when these stories are induced for gimmickry that is already another story.

With the importance of managerial skills which school heads are expected to acquire, seeing teachers on top of the roof looking for internet signals is a question of management. Why is it that the school head was not able to link with the stakeholders for internet connectivity? Seeing a teacher swimming in his uniform with the unwrapped modules on his hands, a viewer can question the integrity of the story and the storyteller itself. The one who filmed it was riding a boat while the teacher swam?

Education is a serious matter. Educators must have a progressive mindset with the intentions to serve not to be served. The professional educator, in accepting his or her position of public trust, measures success not only by the progress of each student toward realization of his or her personal potential, but also as a citizen of the greater community of the republic.

On the other side, there are parents who are complaining about the modular delivery modality. The question to come up in this writers mind is: Can they propose a better modality which allows the learners to learn? If we stop educating the young as what others are proposing, how will we deal with learning gaps?

Generally speaking, learning gap refers to the relative performance of individual students—i.e., the disparity between what a student has actually learned and what he or she is expected to learn at a particular age or year level. One of the more consequential features of learning gaps is their tendency, if left unaddressed, to build up over time and become more severe, which can increase the chances that a student will struggle academically (fsdeu.com.au).

Why do learning gaps form? In general, learning gaps are compounding, which can be troublesome for students beginning to fall behind. But, it's not always easy to identify. As learning is based on building blocks, students are always challenged to expand on topics over time and apply them to new concepts as they progress. Learning that is achieved at one grade level serves as the foundation on which the understanding of more complex ideas and concepts is built.

According to tutordoctor.com, this learning structure grows throughout a student's academic career, with new skills developing from the skills the student has already mastered. Not every student learns at the same pace, though – which is why what starts out as a small learning gap can eventually become a more serious problem.

Also, the modular delivery modality will allow the learners to value reading. Since they do not have anything to do but peruse the materials. This will eventually turn their minds to be critical-thinkers. Allowing the mind to dwell into an analytical state through reading hones mental capacities and skills.

Reading improves vocabulary, organizational skills, and the ability to read, comprehend, and analyze text. ... Moreover, literature can help students develop the critical-thinking skills many employers think are lacking in today's college graduates before they even get to college (Maxcer, 2015).

Whatever our perceptions are, we still have this collective belief that education is very important whatever delivery it may be given.

 

Old Tree in the Forest

 

There is a vast forest full of opportunities. The lush vegetation can be threatening to a newly-sprouting plant. Other plants might overshadow it and be deprived of the sunshine needed for photosynthesis; for survival. The plant must endure the challenges around. For it to survive, it must learn how to compete with others. The nutrients from where it is rooted must be consumed for it to grow. In its nature, survival of the fittest is the name of the game.

Other greenness are thriving. There are those who have become trees blooming with flowers. A beautiful sight full of promises is displaying around the forest. Someday, fruits will hang on their branches. Birds and other organisms will flock towards these trees to marvel and feed on the fruits: the result of the trees’ effort to exist… to survive.

The new plant must wait for its time. Moments of endurance and persistence are needed to develop its sturdy stem. The roots must be planted to a very rich and healthy ground for it to thrive. Weeds are there around threatening to overpower and sometimes can weaken the efforts to grow. But then again, endurance must be considered.

Many years will pass and the tree starts to grow tall. Other birds will notice its potential and would soon start visiting the promising branches. The bees will also look forward to the blossoming of the flowers signaled by the buds sprouting on the branches’ tips. But, there will be weeds and parasites which will start destroying the roots and seeping out the nutrients from the bark. The parasites will start to envy the thriving tree. They might as well seep its goodness for their own benefits.

Still, the tree can endure the tests of time. The weather can also be a foe. During stormy days, strong winds break the branches; too much rain loosens the soil the base might be uprooted. The cruel rays of the sun withers the leaves sometimes depriving the tree to produce food for itself… There are times when the tree surrender to its own fate. But it still continues to endure.

After the blooming, fruits come. The birds are now flocking around it. The tree is now one of the famous ones in the area. It is one of the most-visited plants in the forest. Bees, insects and even birds from other parts of the forest are coming over. The struggling tree before is now a celebrated member of the land.

More years will come. The tree will start to become older. The branches will become strong and the barks will thicken. It will become bigger and will create a shade. Ferns and other plants grow beneath it. They will feel protected by the shade of the old tree. The birds will nest on the branches and more insects live and multiply on the different parts.

The old tree in the forest will not mind on these happenings. It is now contented with what it has contributed with its surrounding. Envy and competition are not on its being. They are not important anymore. It will become happy with its help to the smalls plants starting to thrive near it. It will not mind on the birds nesting on its branches. In fact, the tree will be happier with more birds utilizing its branches as their niche. The tree will not mind on the plants and insects living on its different parts. In fact, it will become happier if more of cocoons will be formed on the leaves turning out to become beautiful butterflies soon.

The old tree in the forest will stand proud unafraid of the trials ahead.

                                                            **********************

We are in this vast forest called life. Whatever phase we are in with our growth process, we need to endure. The weeds and other envious people around must not hamper our growth. We will stand the test of time. The challenges we encounter along the way are as natural as the weather. We allow them to make us stronger.

Our contributions, the fruits of our labor, will be noticed by others. They can even be envied by others. But we must continue to bear fruit. Other people need them to survive. We can help supply the needs of our families and those who are needy.

In the end, we will become that old tree in the forest. We will be there for others. Our main existence will then be dedicated to the development and growth of those who are around us. Our contentment will not be centered on our insecurities but the well-being of others.

It will be a waste of life if we won’t become the old tree in the forest. We must have transcendence and self-actualization and live for the common good.

Backbone

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.

The Power of Being Prepared

                                       (photo: sloanreview.mit.edu)

Di pa daw sila kun preparado… The Philippine Star reported on August 5, 2020 that the Quezon City Public School Teachers Association during the online conference revealed that they have not yet received the necessary modules for distance learning from the DepEd. According to QCPTA president Kristhean Navales, the department has so far only released guidelines on how to print the modules once they are available. He added that these guidelines were released just a few days ago, mere weeks before classes are set to resume.

Navales said he is unaware of whether DepEd is currently printing modules and questioned the department's ability to have them ready by August 24.  

This can be considered as the opposite of pro-active actions by educational leaders in the field. There are some who wait for top-down directives for them to act. The proverbial manna from heaven is often on the mentality of the majority. When this happens, chaos and confusion thrive inside organizations.

R.A. 9155 clearly says that the State shall encourage local initiatives for improving the quality of basic education. The State shall ensure that the values, needs and aspirations of a school community are reflected in the program of education for the children, out-of-school youth and adult learners. Schools and learning centers shall be empowered to make decisions on what is best for the learners they serve.

The school head, who may be assisted by an assistant school head, shall be both an instructional leader and administrative manager. The school head shall form a team with the school teachers/learning facilitators for delivery of quality educational programs, projects and services, the Act continues.

School leaders across the country are grappling with an array of decisions forced on them by the COVID-19 pandemic. How do we use our resources to protect children and keep education going? Once the overarching decisions are made, leaders, including those further down the command chain, will have a myriad of additional choices to make. Thus, the thrust to create a viable Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) was encouraged.

To underscore the case, school leaders are empowered to lead the schools based on the stringent plans created. But due to the fact that most were unprepared of the pandemic’s onslaught, lots were empty-handed. There were even some who copied the plans of others not realizing that the profile of the schools they are managing is different from those they duplicated.

Mathew Lynch (2020) mentions that the antithesis of proactive is reactive, which means people react to the world around them instead of taking steps to affect the outcomes positively. Proactive educational leaders have a do-it-themselves mindset and approach problematic situations with enthusiasm. If you want to affect your life and the lives around you positively, start by learning to control situations, instead of waiting for things to happen.

To become a proactive leader, the first thing that one needs to do is to be able to find and isolate potential issues before they become full-fledged problems. Then the leader can come up with a solution for solving the issue before it actually becomes widely known. The process of solving problems before they begin is not easy to do. It takes a total understanding of the organization and the forces and pressures that surround it. Then and only then can the education leaders begin to predict potential issues and landmines with great accuracy.

The pandemic must not topple down the managerial, leadership and creative processes of leaders who took oath to serve the people in educating the young. Of course, it is but normal to feel anxiety and fear… but public service must go on. There is a need to find ways to let the delivery of education continue.

Responses to the pandemic within the international education community have varied from heroic to problematic, as educators, leaders, administrators and education policy workers navigate shifting information, priorities, resources, and political and economic concerns. As education leaders have responded to the current crisis, many challenges and obstacles to providing essential educational services have emerged.

Additionally, according to frontiersin.org, questions have been raised about whether and how students and schools can meet education policy expectations, how schools can provide adequate support for students, particularly those with special educational and mental health needs, and how education leaders, including, but not limited to: principals, head teachers, superintendents, teacher leaders and so on can collaborate and coordinate with government, non-profit and other stakeholders to meet student needs.

Exhausting our capacities and allowing the community to help us can make things happen. There are resources in our ecology. Paired with proactive actions and the collaboration that must be present, we can be prepared enough in allowing the learners to have an alternative way of educating themselves. If we continue to dwell on WE CAN’T, there is really a tendency that the WE CAN action will be vague.

School Opening Challenges

                                       (photo: UNESCO)

Uno may baja himoon nan mga maestro/maestra? There are comments from the parents that they shall be given the salary of the teachers since they are expected to facilitate the learning of their children during these times where the virus is persisting. Probably some of them forgot that the well-being and learning of their children start from home.

"Parental responsibility" - with respect to their minor children shall refer to the rights and duties of the parents as defined in Article 220 of Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the "Family Code of the Philippines.

In Article 220: The parents and those exercising parental authority shall have with the respect to their unemancipated children on wards the following rights and duties:

(1) To keep them in their company, to support, educate and instruct them by right precept and good example, and to provide for their upbringing in keeping with their means; (2) To give them love and affection, advice and counsel, companionship and understanding; (3) To provide them with moral and spiritual guidance, inculcate in them honesty, integrity, self-discipline, self-reliance, industry and thrift, stimulate their interest in civic affairs, and inspire in them compliance with the duties of citizenship.

It has been a practice among Filipinos to “leave” their responsibilities to the teachers and Day Care workers. Corporal punishment was even encouraged by some parents to the teachers when the kids do nasty things.

Research clearly links the quality of children’s first years with their future physical, cognitive, communicative, social and emotional functioning. Interaction and rich experience are keys. But in developing countries, families are too often without resources to provide the environment and stimulation that their young children need. In the Philippines, center-based early childhood development services are scarce and of uneven quality (childfun.org).

With the onslaught of the alternative learning modality of the Department of Education, parents are expected to facilitate the learning of their children in their own capacities. The IATF prohibits the minors to go out and have face-to-face encounters with others that is why parental support is tantamount to the learning process during the pandemic.

Parental involvement is an essential factor in the development of the foundation in children’s education. In spite of this, many parents do not appear to be getting involved in their children’s education.

This lack of involvement may have a negative impact on student performance in and out of the classroom and ultimately affect their continuing educational development and success. Teachers need to play a major role in connecting to the larger school community.

The Learning Continuity Plan of the schools lists orientation of the parents on the alternative learning delivery modes for this school year. But with the varied profiles of the parents, an impending difficulty is at hand. There are those who will repel on the idea of being involved since for them, it will get along the way in finding for a living. Some of them will be out to work and how can their children expect support and guidance from those whose educational attainment are limited?

Wilichowski and Cobo (2020) said that averting the damage brought on by the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic requires an aggressive education policy response, which involves: 1) coping during the crisis to reduce learning loss while schools are closed, 2) managing continuity of learning to promote learning recovery as schools reopen safely, and 3) using the crisis as an opportunity to improve and accelerate, making education systems stronger and more equitable than they were before.

The DepEd must provide actionable guidance for teachers. This should point to ways teachers can become content curators, and provide   recommendations so that they do not overwhelm pupils with excessive lectures, lessons plans, and homework. In the U.S., Uganda, Brazil, France, and Ethiopia, this guidance includes easy-to-implement ideas so that teachers can adapt the content from remote learning plans for their needs.

There must also be strong policies to allow the parents to have commitment on the learning of the children with the help of the local governments in providing learning and development to capacitate the facilitating skills of the parents.

As education systems emerge from this crisis, it is clear that a new chapter is waiting to be written with detailed medium- and long-term actions (e.g., increasing investments in remote learning, adopting blended models when schools partially reopen, or creating remedial e-courses), which can help educational systems build back stronger and become more equitable.

We will also learn from the things along the way when the new school year opens come August 24. Still, it is firm that education MUST continue. We cannot afford to have a generation of morons if we will allow the pandemic to create a learning gap.