The top priority of every Filipino family is their children’s education. In this time of pandemic, their learning should not be put to halt because the use of education is vital for them for their future success. Boundaries should be pushed by exploring new paths for quality education and by finding ways for learning.
Admittedly, there are so many questions that the public may ought to know to ensure that their children will receive proper education as the school year in the new normal formally delivers. Furthermore, given the current health situation, there are several factors to be considered depending on the location of the learners, the available means of communications, and the status of their community. One thing is only sure, every school has its unique way of implementing its school policy and procedures to maintain peace and order, while observing the minimum health standards prescribed by the government. Aside from it, relevant, valuable, and timely information are properly disseminated by the Department Education to the public. Hence, virtual press conference, guidelines and policies and other statements are made regularly to update the people regarding the status of education. Even the learning platforms and DepEd websites are made available for reading and downloading. The activeness of Facebook DepEd Philippines can be noticed, and they are continuously receiving queries, while our Public Assistance Center has hotlines, text messaging and emails are also accessible anytime of the day and capable to respond in a jiffy.
The delivery of learning in public schools combine all activities involved in the entire learning process comprehensively follow the guidelines issued by the authorities. Due to the current health situation, alternative delivery modalities are conducted both online and offline. These kind of changes and adjustments are done for everybody’s health and safety. Hence, people are enjoined to persevere, cooperate and be adaptable to cope with the changes in education which is a part of the new way of living.
Accordingly, DepEd guidelines and policies on distance learning can only be applied for school year 2020-2021. Nevertheless, if these modalities assure quality education and best outcome, it might be continuously delivered depending on the learners’ situation to ensure continued access to learning opportunities. But for today in the new normal, distance learning will be the major component of learning delivery. Various learning delivery options such as blended/distance learnings and other modes of delivery are adopted depending on the local COVID-19 Risk Severity Classification.
By: Leticia E. Eugenio| EPS I in Mathematics|SDO, Balanga City
