THERE has been much clamor to defer the opening of classes on October 5, Monday, but the Department of Education is adamant to proceed, asserting there has been enough time for public schools to prepare for synchronous and asynchronous learning systems.
Last August, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that moving the school opening to October has given DepEd elbow room to address some issues related to distance learning, especially those concerning alternative learning delivery modalities. DepEd also announced it was conducting training for teachers under the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to prepare the teachers for the rigors of the new system.
We are all adjusting to new ways of doing things in so short a time. Private schools that opened in August may now have an idea if learning is not hampered in any way with the new learning system. While learners are given workbooks as a supplement to online learning, it may be too soon to tell if this is sustainable in the long run. There are many concerns that have been raised by parents in social media among which are the lack of gadgets to aid in the learning process for both teachers and pupils and the unstable internet connection. Working parents are also worried that they could not properly supervise their children in doing their schoolwork.
With the pandemic still raging, we all have to adjust and adapt to new concepts to go on with our lives.
We are entering a new terrain in education and the school year 2020-2021 will be a litmus test on how prepared we are to venture into the erstwhile untrodden path,
