"Give me a break” is often used by people to express disbelief and exasperation over something ridiculous or trying. But recently it has become a legitimate and urgent declaration from many students that have collectively experienced “burn out” or “over fatigue” or have been run down because of too much school work, unrealistic schedules and deadlines and the fact that many students now have to be part-time teachers to themselves and full-time students due to the “study at home” mode or distance learning. Because of the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, a number of students even have to be working students since many parents have lost jobs or income in the pandemic.
The situation has gotten so bad that there is at least one recorded case of suicide allegedly related to the overload of school work while many more students are reportedly suffering in silence while experiencing depression or mental health issues, and we now have a growing number of angry students and supportive teachers and professors who are demanding that this phenomenon and crisis be addressed by education officials and universities, particularly in Metro Manila and Luzon. Protests have been held in many universities as well as on “Freedom Boards” where students and faculty are encouraged to express their views or opinions on many matters, but particularly on the pitfalls and failed management of distance learning in colleges and universities.
This clearly indicates that experts and authorities have been too busy focusing on the business of running universities and failing to monitor or look after their primary responsibility, which is the welfare of students and faculty. In fact, one clear indication of how detached or unawares university and higher education officials are from the burn out phenomenon is the fact that very few of them have initiated studies or research on the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns, distance learning and the academic and mental journey of the first batch of K-12 learners who are now in colleges and universities.
Policy makers and officials have mistakenly presumed that because students are all working from home, they are in a more relaxed atmosphere and are therefore in an ideal learning environment. So they dismiss all these appeals for “academic breaks” or days off after exam week and “academic easing” or reduced workload or pressure as nothing more than whining from millennials who are not used to stress or challenges. Some pundits have even suggested that if school gets tough then the affected students should take a “gap year.” What absolute horses**t and idiocy is this?
A student studying and working from home does not enjoy the isolation, concentration and attention they have for four to six hours that they have inside universities. My daughter Hannah, who now studies in the Netherlands and has her own room /studio in a shared housing complex, regularly walks over to her university to study, read or prepare for upcoming exams. Her reason for this is that being inside the “Uni” gives her a space where it’s quiet, with very little distraction and where her mind shifts to “study” mode, unlike in her apartment where she hears the Siren’s song of her bed calling her to nap or gets to be too comfy.
In the Philippines, there are numerous distractions, competition for internet service at home where there are multiple students under one roof alongside parents using data and mobile devices. Students also have assigned domestic chores either to cook, clean, wash clothes or help younger siblings with their modules. There are also unscheduled errands given to students by parents to pay bills or buy stuff.
A student at home has to deal with other online challenges such as attending eight Zoom classes with 25 to 30 other students per class and on top of that, they don’t have direct access to their lecturers or professors, who are similarly burned out with twice if not triple the amount of work required to teach each class. Following a course outline, they have to prepare power point presentations/slides as well as modules for students in remote locations or have no access to reliable internet service and are not allowed to attend face-to-face classes. Then they have to teach the course, go through each Zoom participant, etc., etc.
Clearly the ADULTS have failed the students and have not been paying attention to the problems brought about by the “WFH (work from home)” phenomenon. There is a flood of discussions and reports about how many employees or professionals have been complaining about the curse and the stress that WFH places on people. Those in charge, whether bosses or professors, are unmindful or disrespectful or inconsiderate of the “TIME.” They pile on work and call any time they wish, or don’t respect weekends, which is something that would not happen in the actual workplace.
Unlike normal office or university situations where people watch the clock and follow “office hours,” the curse of the WFH model is that people forgot about “LIMITS” for time and workload. Sadly, the same thing has happened to many professors who, due to the very detached nature of digital education, have become impersonal perhaps even uncaring of the consequences of the burden they place on students. It is wrong to simply “invalidate” or “gaslight” students’ claims and opinions, particularly when it concerns their physical and mental health and ultimately their educational achievement.
The Commission on Higher Education as well as Malacañang need to call for a proper study and address this continuing crisis and institute academic breaks and easing of academic loads for all students. The intention is to educate our children and not have indifferent and insensitive decision makers run them to the ground just because these people are more interested in following a curriculum based on minimum learning hours that was designed for face-to-face but not distance learning. We stand with our children and all students and demand that we GIVE THEM A BREAK!