ILOILO City – Sixty-four percent of public school learners in Western Visayas favor modules over online classes as their mode of learning in this time of coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Education (DepEd).
This is equivalent to 1,075,399 enrollees, said Leo Dedoroy, DepEd Region 6 division chief of Planning and Research.
Classes in public elementary and high schools nationwide begin on Oct. 5 for school year 2020-2021.
A total of 1,750,921 learners from kindergarten to senior high school have enrolled, DepEd-6 data showed.
This is nearly 50,000 less than the enrollment in the previous school year – 1,799,299.
“Only a small percentage of learners are opting for online classes. They are those who have the gadgets and the internet signal for this,” said DepEd-6 regional director Ma. Gemma Ledesma.
In the region’s private elementary and high schools, only 29.85 percent or 45,287 enrollees are opting for modules, said Dedoroy.
Enrollment in private schools reached only 151,850 for school year 2020-2021. Dedoroy said this is way lower than the enrollment in school year 2019-2020 – 236,298.
Ledesma reiterated DepEd’s position of not having face-to-face traditional classroom learning at this time, even in areas considered as “low-risk” for coronavirus disease 2019 transmission, as directed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
DepEd central office has envisioned several learning delivery modalities while the coronavirus pandemic rages. These are the following:
* face-to-face learning – Children in COVID low-risk areas will be allowed to physically report to school. Minimum health standards would be observed such as disinfection of the school, washing of hands, wearing of facemask, checking of body temperature, and observing physical distancing.
* distance learning – online classes (internet connection needed); modular (printed or electronic materials needed); radio-based or television-based instruction
* blended learning – combination of learning modes
* homeschooling – parents will serve as the children’s teachers
However, a survey that DepEd conducted showed that most parents preferred distance learning, and specifically through learning modules, if not online, as the safest for their children.
Oct. 5 was the date that President Duterte chose for the opening of school year 2020-2021.
“We gave him three choices – Aug. 24, Sept. 7, and Oct. 5 – and the latest date was the one he has chosen,” said Education secretary Leonor Briones.
As a response to the calls to postpone the school opening anew, Briones said DepEd has been preparing for its learning continuity plan as early as April.
“In Southeast Asia, other countries have already opened schools – we’re the last one to open in October,” she said.
In less than six months, Briones cited how the DepEd overhauled the system just to ensure that the education of millions of Filipino children will continue. “It’s not just about what other countries do, it’s about what the children are missing,” she said.
The months-long disruption in children’s education, Briones said, already has a negative impact on their overall growth – noting that students might “lose interest in studying if we continue to delay the school opening.”/PN
