Disconnect in ‘e-learning’

In the end, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go had the final say. It was only after Sen. Go spoke out in public that the Department of Education (DepEd) gave in to calls to defer the Aug. 24 opening of school classes amid the  coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.

Go’s fellow Senators much earlier have been pressing DepEd to postpone the opening of classes as COVID cases continue to rise. In fact, this prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to re-impose the MECQ in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal for another two weeks – from Aug. 4 to 18 – following the surge of positive cases of COVID-19.

Previously, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones stood pat against all calls to reset the scheduled school opening. Briones believes on the need to get schoolchildren back to the study mode after more than five months of lockdown since March due to the outbreak of COVID pandemic.

Administration ally Sen. Francis Tolentino has asked the DepEd to move the scheduled opening of classes to October or even later. Invoking the new law, Republic Act (RA) 11480, DepEd is enabled to do so, he cited. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on basic education and principal sponsor of RA 11480, likewise made the same earnest appeal to the DepEd.

Tolentino reminded DepEd officials they have only 168 hours left to craft the implementing rules and regulations of the law in order to fully carry it out. Tolentino raised this during last week’s Senate public hearing amid growing clamor on the challenges of distance education and online or through electronic, or “e-learning” for short. Like Go, Tolentino once served in the Duterte Cabinet.

But it took the public appeal of Sen. Go, erstwhile Special Assistant to the President (SAP), and now chairman of the Senate committee on health, to make it happen.

Making his public appeal, Go asked DepEd to postpone it to enable students, teachers, and parents a little more time to adjust to DepEd’s “blended learning” that applies physical distancing as among measures to prevent COVID-19 infection. Following Go’s press statement issued last Thursday that specifically suggested to reschedule school opening to October, the President approved it.

Although he is no longer SAP, Sen. Go still sits at every meeting of President Duterte with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID). The 79-year old DepEd Secretary is among the hardworking members of the IATF. Still enjoying his direct access to Malacañang, Sen. Go perhaps got to first read the signed presidential memorandum even before Briones could officially make the announcement herself.

In a hastily organized virtual press conference last Friday, Briones announced the deferment to Oct. 5. This was just a day after she reported DepEd’s successful conduct of “blended learning” simulations in over 500 public schools nationwide to justify the opening of classes to proceed as scheduled. Briones said preparations for the opening of classes are in full swing, with more than 23.2 million students expected to go back to public and private schools in less than two weeks.

Briones clarified though that as early as August 6 she already recommended to the President to allow the two-month postponement of the school opening as allowed by RA 11480. “We shall use the deferment to provide relief to the logistical limitations faced by the areas placed under MECQ and to fill in the remaining gaps of the school opening that we are currently addressing,” Briones reassured the public.

Actually, President Duterte himself has repeatedly declared he would not allow face-to-face classes without the anti-COVID vaccine yet.

Reluctantly, President Duterte agreed with Briones to get Filipino students back to study mode. The compromise is through a virtual schooling system like doing it online to avoid face-to-face holding of classes. DepEd came up with a combination of “e-learning,” modular teaching methods, and through television/radio. Collectively called as “blended learning,” DepEd will follow this system while waiting for the anti-COVID vaccine to be developed.

During our Zoom Webinar Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last week, PLDT-Smart public affairs head Ramon Isberto disclosed the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU) has recently tapped PLDT Enterprise to support its 196 member schools’ transition to “e-learning.

Although classes in public elementary and high schools are deferred to Oct. 5, DepEd clarified, those in private schools, many of which are attached to universities and colleges, that have already started their classes will be allowed to continue. Out of the total enrolment, 21.5 million have signed up in public schools while only 1.59 million enrolled in private schools.

During the same Kapihan sa Manila Bay last week, Department of Information and Communications technology (DICT) Undersecretary Ramon Jacinto admitted the Philippines is not ready yet to “e-learning” modality of teaching – equipment and technology-wise. Despite modern technology advancements, TV and radio are still the best way in reaching the majority of students during this time of pandemic, Jacinto cited.

“If you want immediate solution, traditional analog television and radio have 98 percent penetration. Immediately, let’s use those first while you’re building digital stations or whatever,” he urged. Jacinto disclosed he has reached out to the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) to allow access to local TV and radio stations for this mode of DepEd’s “blended learning.”

According to DICT studies, he cited, 45% of Filipinos are not connected to internet and a bigger percentage or 61% of the households are likewise not connected online. While many Filipinos have mobile phones, 14% have no smartphones, he rued. Worse, Jacinto noted, 74% of public schools are not connected online.

“So connectivity is an important issue,” Jacinto stressed. This is not to mention unstable internet speed.

Obviously, two-month delay of school opening would not still solve the disconnect of “e-learning” in many public schools.