HAPHAZARDLY OPTIMISTIC

EDITORIAL

Despite the number of COVID-19 cases continuing to surge, the Department of Education (DepEd) remains unrelenting towards the opening of classes this August. Yet one must ask the readiness of the country for such, otherwise, Deped has just become out of touch with the public.

Last June, the department endorsed the use of blended learning—a combination of online learning and learning materials to be delivered to students’ homes—stating that the modality has been used for decades, in response to Vice President Leni Robredo’s doubts on whether the country was prepared enough for this.

“We have been doing distance learning, blended learning for decades and decades now … We are not inventing anything new,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said.

However, just because something has been done since time immemorial does not justify nor reassure that it is effective for students, especially those of the lower class.

Amid the pandemic, families struggle with income and employment— with online learning, people are already selling off their possessions in order to acquire laptops, Wi-Fi, and other necessary devices. The worst-case scenario would be akin to the high school student from Albay, who took his own life after apologizing to his parents for the additional expenses.

Modular learning would leave the responsibility to the parents on how to teach their child the learning material delivered to them, or in some cases, how the student would teach themselves the material without a proper guide. This would be challenging in households that are not conducive to learning due to various reasons.

Face-to-face classes, limited or not, would prove to be difficult, even if it is the best way for students to learn. It does not matter if only 4% out of 67,000 confirmed cases were children, and that there were only 16 COVID-related deaths among youth as Briones said. Seeing as how the government is currently handling the health crisis, rushing physical learning would only lead to a spike in cases—and it is not as if our curve is flattening. In fact, it looks to be the very opposite.

The pandemic makes it obvious the shortcomings of the Philippines’ education system, as well as a division between the privileged and the less fortunate.

DepEd should be reminded of the No Child Left Behind policy—thus, the needs of those who experience the brunt of this pandemic should be attended to first. With that policy in mind, it is imperative that all students have equal access to quality education, thus the need for solutions that will cater towards every learner regardless of social status. After all, education is a right, and not a privilege.

Nevertheless, it is not only the education sector that must strive for it, but the government as well. In order for the public to revert back to the most feasible learning modality— face-to-face, physical learning—it must be seen to it that mass testing be carried out and other strong medical solutions be enforced.

One must remember DepEd’s Mission—to protect and promote the right of every Filipino to quality, equitable, culturebased and complete basic education. No matter how prepared they say they are, if the youth does not have access to it—especially those of the lower-class— then starting this academic year will all be for naught.