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Brothers and sisters, the first day of school has passed in our public schools, and the opening of this school year is quite different. It started in October instead of June, which was the usual start of the school year for students. Due to the pandemic, the opening of schools was supposed to be moved to August, but according to President Duterte’s memorandum, the Department of Education changed the date. According to DepEd, enrollment reached nearly 25 million for the 2020-2021 school year; This is equal to 89 percent of those enrolled in the previous school year, which means that the number of students enrolled was less than the previous school year, although more students were expected to enroll this year as the enrollment period was extended. registration.
But what is even more different is the way the students would study because they would no longer go to school. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, face-to-face classes are prohibited and children are still unable to leave their homes. DepEd immediately addressed this challenge by implementing what is called distance or blended learning using different modalities or processes. There are modules that can be printed or in digital format; There will also be classes taught online, on television, or on the radio.
And this new way of learning is really a great fit for not only students, but their parents and teachers as well.
Parents rushed to buy gadgets their kids need for online learning, but many families can’t keep up – kids from poor families and those living in far-flung places with no internet connection. There are printed modules distributed by DepEd, but the quality of learning would be different between students using online learning or those using printed modules. Parents are also expected to guide their children in the study by using modules, but this is quite difficult for mothers and fathers who need to work or do household chores. This would not be easier for parents who did not go to school. We now see the sacrifice of parents who, as Pope Francis said in Amoris Laetitia, their most serious duty is to give their children a proper education.
This is also a new challenge for our teachers. Their ways of teaching and evaluating the learning of those they teach will be very different from before. Some of them don’t have the proper devices and they don’t have fast internet either. In other places, teachers need to learn to teach in front of a camera; they are what we call teacher-announcers who will use television and radio to teach. In the regions, our teachers need to travel long distances to deliver copies of the printed modules to their students. Teachers are truly heroes.
Brothers and sisters, we are all making great sacrifices for the sake of education due to the changes brought about by this disease that we could have prevented from getting worse if our government took the appropriate measures. These sacrifices are signs of giving importance to education, as it is said in the book of Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight instead of silver!” The government must also be very supportive and acknowledge these sacrifices.
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