ILOILO City – The Department of Education (DepEd) considered the resumption of classes in all of Western Visayas’ public schools a success. No major difficulties were experienced, according to Lea Belleza, DepEd Region 6 information officer.
With no traditional face-to-face learning, School Year 2020-2021 officially started on Monday, Oct. 5.
Around 1,910,611 learners in the region have enrolled and chose either self-learning modules or online classes as modes of learning.
Belleza said helpdesks set up in 20 Schools Division Offices in six provinces and 16 cities have not received major complaints so far.
“We have hotlines published by schools andthere are also personnelassigned to attend towalk-in clients, especially late enrollees. There is observance of health and safety protocols in the process,” she added.
Belleza attributed the successful opening of basic education classes from kindergarten to senior high school to the preparations made by the Education department.
But she appealed for the parents’ understanding, especially those struggling to serve as guide teachers to their children at home.
“We are all new in this set-up. Let us be partners in facilitating learning to our children,” Belleza said.
She advised parents or guardians to give teachers or even the principal a call or text should they have queries.
“Social media cannot address your queries. Let us be appreciative of the efforts of DepEd,” Belleza stressed, referring to some parents posting their concerns or queries on Facebook.
There are 4,572 public schools in the region – 3,402 elementary, 677 junior high and 493 senior high. Meanwhile, there are 1,496 private schools – 974 elementary, 322 junior high and 200 senior high.
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the formal education of millions of Western Visayas students was delayed.
As directed by President Rodrigo Duterte, there should be no face-to-face classes this school year.
Instead, various alternative learning delivery modalities such as modular (printed and offline); online and television or radio-based instruction are used in public schools. These can also be combined or “blended” depending on the capacity and resources available.
More than half of the total enrollees in Western Visayas have opted for modular type of learning this school year, according to Leo Dedoroy, DepEd-6 division chief of Planning and Research.
Modular learning is individualized instruction that allows learners to use self-learning modules in print or digital format/electronic copy, whichever is applicable in the context of the learner, and other learning resources like textbooks, activity sheets, study guides and other study materials.
The teacher takes the responsibility of monitoring the learners’ progress. The learners may ask assistance from the teacher via e-mail, telephone, text message/instant messaging, etc.
PARTIAL VICTORY
For his part, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on basic education, said the resumption of classes this week can only be considered a partial “victory” for the Philippine education sector.
“I cannot claim complete victory because if you look at the standpoint of parents and teachers, the lack of internet connectivity became the stumbling block,” Gatchalian said in an interview on ANC.
“I can only say it’s a partial victory in so far as class opening is concerned. The telcos should step up. It’s now in the hands of the telcos to step up and to make sure connectivity is available to all students,” he added.
Having conducted an ocular inspection in Valenzuela City on Monday, Gatchalian said he personally witnessed how difficult it was for students to adjust to blended forms of learning, especially as not all of them are privileged to access gadgets and the internet.
While acknowledging the importance of self-learning modules as well as TV- and radio-based instructions, the senator also said some lessons are simply complex.
Education secretary Leonor Briones on Monday claimed “victory” as School Year 2020-2021 officially started.
A day after, she clarified that DepEd is “not claiming the success of blended learning” and said monitoring efforts were ongoing.
She added that DepEd will play by ear in resolving challenges as they come.
Gatchalian said deploying “roving teachers” could be the solution if the present blended forms of learning would be assessed to be ineffective.
“After a month of this school opening, we’ll have to assess whether the kids are learning. If the kids are not absorbing them, we have to do another innovation,” he said.
The roving teachers could teach a small number of students depending on the location and risks, according to the senator.
He added that the DepEd is already exploring this strategy. (With GMA News/PN)
