RECENTLY, the Department of Education (DepEd) authorized its regional units to begin the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes in public schools found in areas under Alert Levels 1 and 2 for COVID-19. This means that more grade levels could soon be included in this expansion.
After two years of community quarantines, the reopening of our schools is a welcome development. According to recent DepEd data, some 304 schools are eligible to restart face-to-face classes. With pediatric vaccinations now ongoing and steadily ramping up across the country, the immediate concern is on how the remaining 47,000 public schools, 12,000 private schools, and more than 200 public universities could be supported so that they too can reopen sooner rather than later.
Bigger questions however will need to be answered. What kind of education system will our children be returning to once the pandemic ends? Are they still on track or will steps have to be taken for them to catch up?
Truly, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted so many parts of our society. Not only did it introduce new challenges, it also exacerbated the old ones. And sadly, among the worst-hit is our education sector.
In July 2021, the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality, and Relevant Education found via a survey of 1,299 students that more than a majority of them said they learned less under remote learning, compared to the conventional face-to-face setup. This was true for 86.7 percent of those using home-based modules; 66 percent for those using online learning; and 74 percent for those under blended setups (or a mixture of both modular and online learning).
Then in November 2021, the World Bank reported that 90 percent of our ten-year-olds were possibly thrust into âlearning povertyâ because of the pandemic, such that they do not know how to read and understand a simple passage of text. The report surmised that this is because of the vast inequalities faced by our students. For instance, not all households have access to smartphones, laptops, tablets or gadgets for remote learning. Neither do all have stable Internet connections.
Clearly, the country is in the middle of a learning crisis. But it would be misguided to think that such was caused by the pandemic. Our education systemâs underperformance had already been observed even before COVID-19 hit.
For instance, in the 2019 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), which assessed academic performance across 58 countries, the Philippines ranked last for Grade 4 mathematics and science. Then in the 2019 SEA-PLM (Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics) study across 6 ASEAN members, our Grade 5 students underperformed in almost all the metrics utilized, with significant proportions scoring lowest in certain proficiencies.
The loudest wake-up call came with the results of the 2018 round of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to which we volunteered to be included for the first time. Out of the 79 countries and economies surveyed, our students attained the lowest score for reading, and second to the lowest for science and mathematics.
Most disconcerting was the data that showed 31 percent of the Filipino students believed that they did not have the capacity nor the opportunity to become smarter. This shows that instead of encouraging our children to pursue their own aspirations, our education system appears to be stopping them or making it more difficult for them to do so.
In 2019, these findings prompted Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Basic and Higher Education Committee chairs Sherwin Gatchalian and Joel Villanueva, Senators Grace Poe and Imee Marcos, and myself to file a resolution calling for the establishment of a Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM.
This is similar to the commission headed by my father former Senate President Edgardo J. Angara in 1989, whose terminal report led to the establishment of our existing trifocalized system. Like its predecessor, this EDCOM 2 will study and assess the current performance of the education system to recommend policy and legislative reforms and other actionable items that would improve the performance of our education system.
We are happy to note that before the Senate went into recess earlier this month, it already passed the measure principally authored by my seatmate Senator Gatchalian to create EDCOM 2. A bicameral conference committee between the House and the Senate has yet to be convened, but we are hopeful that once Congress resumes in May, this legislative measure will be approved and immediately sent to the Executive for the Presidentâs signature. Its enactment is extremely crucial for the future of youth, and in turn, of our post-pandemic recovery.
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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 17 years. He has authored and sponsored more than 200 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.
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E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara/PN
