June 7, 2021
By Imari Jazmine Tamayo
RECAP: Series of events that greatly affected the educational sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Infographic by Imari Jazmine Tamayo)
Who would have thought that a two-week suspension would turn to almost two years of being away from the classroom?
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected every aspect of our lives. The spread of the virus forced us to adapt to the new normal whether we wanted to or not. Our plans for the future were shaken and the ordinary life which involved graduating and then working became even more difficult.
Despite the need to suspend physical classes to prevent infection, the Philippines somehow managed to continue education amidst the pandemic.
Here is the timeline of events that affected the development of education in the country while combating COVID-19:
Where it all began
President Rodrigo Duterte announced the suspension of all classes in the National Capital Region (NCR) on March 9, 2020. He then announced two days later, March 12, that the suspension would extend until April 12 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus.
What followed was the suspension of classes in nearby provinces and other areas nationwide. It was a relief for the Department of Education (DepEd) that the suspension occurred during the month of March which is the usual time where institutions providing basic education typically end their school year.
For the higher education institutions (HEIs), the original plan was to shift to an online learning setup for the remainder of the semester. However, due to the threat of COVID-19, each university and college announced the suspension of classes both in-person and online shortly after.
On April 21, 2020, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced that the implementation of “mass promotion” policies for the students lies on the decision of each university and college.
At the time, the end-of-semester policies made by each university sparked a debate among its students. Some justified the need for mass promotion, stating that being in the middle of a pandemic is not a conducive time for learning. Others said that policy would be “unfair” for fellow students.
After some time, several universities including Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle University, and the University of the Philippines decided to heed the call for mass promotion. Some universities also provided their own respective guidelines on how the student will pass the academic year 2019 -2020.
Adapting to the New Normal
DepEd and CHED then proceeded to plan for the resumption of classes for the school year 2020-2021. Distance learning and flexible learning methods were introduced to continue education amidst the pandemic.
DepEd originally planned to open the school year on August 24, 2020. However, the COVID-19 crisis pushed the date further into the year.
DepEd adopted distance learning when it finally resumed nationwide classes last October 5, 2020. Distance learning limits interactions among students and teachers to prevent transmission and infection. It uses online resources, printed modules, or a combination of both in teaching and instructing students.
DepEd adopted these methods to prevent the decline of learning competencies among students. Learning competencies refer to the knowledge, understanding, skills, and attitudes that students need to demonstrate in every lesson or learning activity.
CHED on the other hand was confident that it would be able to resume classes in August of the same year. On July 10, 2020, CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III said, “We are ready to open this August. No ifs, no buts. Learning must continue. We learn as one, we are ready.”
However, on August 17, 2020, de Vera announced that the HEIs have the academic freedom to decide their resumption of classes based on their preparedness and mode of learning.
CHED promoted the use of “flexible learning” for universities and colleges which use digital and non-digital technology in distributing learning materials. De Vera also said that the institutions are free to choose whatever methods of learning fit their students the best.
A Year of Distance Learning
After almost a year of its implementation, many Filipinos, especially teachers, believe that distance learning is ineffective.
A survey conducted by the Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education (SEQuRe Education Movement) last November to December 2020 backed up these claims. 1,395 teachers, 1,207 parents, and 620 students from grades 4 to 12 were the chosen respondents.
The survey showed that 70.9% of teachers "are not confident that the competencies set by the Department of Education under distance learning are actually being developed."
Moreover, only 4% of the teachers said that all of their students could keep up with the lessons. On the other hand, 54% claimed a definite portion of students are lagging behind, while 42% are not sure how many students could not keep up.
Almost half or 46.7% of teacher respondents believe that DepEd failed to give decent safety and health protection, while 33.5% think otherwise.
Additionally, the survey showed that 53% of 620 student respondents are uncertain if they learned anything. Furthermore, 54.7% of the students claim distance learning had a negative impact on their physical and mental health.
Despite these findings, DepEd surprised many after claiming that 99.13% of students passed the first quarter of School Year 2020 - 2021. The department obtained the data from about 14.6 million public school students. This leaves ungathered data from 10 million students who also enrolled this school year.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed his surprise about the high passing rate. He also questioned the interpretation of the data gathered.
Gatchalian said, "Of course I want all of them to pass but realistically we all know the performance of our students, so I’m quite surprised with that 99 percent passing rate."
Raymond Basilio, the secretary-general of Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), also said, “We ask the DepEd officials to stop spewing lies to cover up for the failure of distance learning and instead focus on implementing education reforms to salvage the rest of the school year and ensure safe and quality education for all.”
What Lies Ahead
The need to revert back to physical classes increases as the number of students who participate in distance learning declines.
Last December 14, 2020 Duterte approved DepEd’s proposal of the pilot testing of face-to-face classes in low-risks areas for January 2021. However, he took back his statement after the discovery of a new strain of COVID-19 that originated in the United Kingdom.
On the other hand, Duterte approved the resumption of limited face-to-face classes in higher education institutions last January 26, 2021. Institutions offering medical and allied health programs were allowed to operate in areas under the general community quarantine and modified GCQ areas.
On March 26, CHED approved 24 colleges and universities to implement face-to-face classes during the second semester of the academic year 2020 - 2021.
DepEd has stressed that until a vaccine is given to learners and educators, face-to-face classes will remain prohibited.
The country began its vaccination program against the virus last March 1, 2021. However, officials have not announced when the students will be allowed to get their vaccination.
For the meantime, only time will tell how the educational sector will develop as the fight against the virus continues. However, one thing is clear, the chances of returning to the face-to-face setup in the near future increases as more Filipinos agree to get vaccinated. SYNC IN
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