June 11, 2021
By Francesca Kapunan
If given the choice, Benjamin Sumabat, a grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS) student, would have preferred to do his work immersion in the local prosecutor’s office in his hometown, Cagayan. He instead spent one day each for seven weeks watching webinars and virtual tours in lieu of the usual hands-on process expected of students at his grade level.
Work immersion is a key feature in the senior high school curriculum, with objectives to familiarize students with the workplace, simulate employment, and apply in-classroom learning to a work environment. Before the pandemic, grade 12 students would work in offices and laboratories relevant to their academic track. But with the limitations of distance learning and the pandemic, schools had to be creative with implementing the required subject in an online setup.
“May three parts kasi siya, yung una parang introductory part parang testimony noong mga nag work-immersion last year. Pinanood namin through facebook group namin. Tapos noon, nagkavirtual tour sa offices kung saan sana kami magwowork immersion… then after noon yung last part is yung webinar series with professionals,” Sumabat explains.
(There are three parts. The first is the introductory part where students who did work immersion last year shared their testimonies, and we watched it through our Facebook group. Afterward, we had a virtual tour of the offices where we would have worked, and the last part was a webinar series with professionals.)
Last June 2020, DepEd released a set of guidelines for the implementation of work immersion during the pandemic. Necessary adjustments were made per academic track, wherein Accountancy, Business, and Management (ABM) students would simulate a micro-business enterprise, take part in an existing business, engage in online selling, or draft a business proposal.
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students meanwhile no longer enjoy work immersion, and in place is a capstone project. Whereas, Humanities and Social Sciences (HumSS) and General Academic Strand (GAS) students are left with a culminating activity to synthesize their learnings throughout the semester.
In Sumabat’s school, University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao, hands-on work was replaced with a series of virtual tours and webinars to compensate with DepEd’s standing guidelines for work immersion. “Parang naging subject na talaga siya this final sem namin.. pero yung content niya is about work immersion. Parang naging career talks siya, ” he explained.
(It really just seemed like a subject this final semester, with the content being about work immersion. It was more like a career talk.)
Sumabat further says that while the experience itself overall was pleasant, he can’t help but worry about the difficulty in actually applying their learnings, given the unique set-up. “Okay naman siya yung experience, pero medyo hassle din kasi syempre hindi namin mainternalize or maunawaan ng mabuti kung paano yung totoong work immersion kasi may lapses din in terms of tour ganoon kasi hindi rin masyadong detailed.”
(The experience was okay, but it was kind of a hassle because we couldn’t internalize or fully understand how work immersion really should be. There were lapses in the tour as well since they didn’t go into full detail.)
He further laments the lack of skills training that comes with online work immersion, which was the main objective of the program in the first place. “May mga natutunan din lalo nung conversation with the professionals for pieces of advice, pero in terms of skills, wala masyado dahil virtual na nga, hindi kami nagkaroon ng practical application kaya hindi namin naapply yung skills or natutunan yung kung paano umasta sa workspace.”
(We learned a lot from our conversations with professionals for pieces of advice. But in terms of skills, we really didn’t learn that much since it was virtual. We didn’t have a practical application so we couldn’t apply any skills, nor did we learn how it is to actually work.)
The guidelines set by DepEd for work immersion are also not strictly followed across all senior high schools. A fellow HumSS student like Sumabat, Jeulian Manalo’s senior high school De La Salle University opted to integrate work immersion with practical research.
For Manalo and her groupmates, they devote most of their time working on their research, wherein they assess the ethicality and moral implications of sex doll ownership. Research is a big deal in DLSU, she explains, and they’re expected to turn in around 5-10 hours per week working on it.
“Sa totoo lang, maraming times na tini-try namin mameet yung 5-10 hours, talagang nagfa-fail kami. Kasi hindi rin namin siya nasisiksik sa mismong school hours namin kasi yung set-up din namin ngayong term is hindi na siya yung dating set-up na nakahati yung subjects namin, tapos lesser hours yung nakalagay sa synchronous classes… mas heavy kami sa synchronous classes ngayon,” shares Manalo.
(To be honest, we’ve tried many times to meet the 5-10 hour requirement, but we really failed at it. We couldn’t squeeze in the time during school hours because our set-up this term is unlike our previous set-up where we had lesser classes and lesser hours for synchronous sessions. This term, there are a lot more synchronous classes.)
Manalo explains that instead of trying to compress and meet the 5-10 hour requirement within school hours, their group chose to work beyond school hours, often until 11 pm. “Hindi na talaga siya within the school hours. Pero kung ipilit kasi namin na within the school hours, nakababad lang din kami sa screen kaya unhealthy din siya para sa amin.”
(We really have been working beyond school hours. If we tried to force our work within school hours, we would be sitting in front of the screen for a long time which wouldn’t be healthy for us.)
When asked about her thoughts on the integration of work immersion with practical research, Manalo shares that she is unsure whether or not the experience gained from research is sufficient for the field she intends to pursue in the future.
“Hindi ko rin magauge kung sapat ba yung ginagawa namin para maging prepared kami. Kasi although natra-train din kami mag-alay ng ganitong number of hours at maging masinsin sa pagbabasa ng literature, talagang heavy siya on research. Hindi ko din siya maapply din kasi philosophy siya, and ang dami ko tuloy alam tungkol sa philosophical concepts na hindi ko naman siya maaapply kasi hindi ko naman inapply yung course sa college.”
(I can’t gauge for sure if what we learned was sufficient. Because while we were trained to put in a certain number of hours and to thoroughly read literature, for the most part, it was heavy on research. I wouldn’t be able to apply what I learned since it’s philosophy… so now I know a lot of philosophical concepts that I won’t be able to apply since that isn’t related to the course I’ll be taking in college.)
Because of this type of set-up, Manalo explains that it seems as if she is unfamiliar overall with how to work immersion should be, and the skills they could have applied had it been implemented in the traditional sense.
“Nung nawala yung concept ng work immersion tapos ginawa nalang na practical research, parang hindi ko na talaga alam kung ano yung work immersion in the first place, kasi naging very devoted nga kami sa practical research. Kaya hindi ko talaga alam kung enough ba ginagawa ko, or kung natratrain talaga yung skills ko at this kind of topic.”
(When we went away with work immersion and replaced it with practical research, it’s as if I don’t know what work immersion is in the first place since we were really devoted to researching. So I can’t say for sure if I know what I'm doing, or if my skills are being trained for this kind of topic.) SYNC IN
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