Philippines education inequity

Back to school, too early or too late? This is the question that the proposed bill at the 18th Congress sought to determine in resetting the mandated opening of classes amid the ongoing public health crisis posed by the 2019 coronavirus disease (C19) pandemic. With the cases of C19 infection still rising each day, the Department of Education (DepEd) started last Monday “virtual” enrolment where students and parents need not be physically present in school premises.

In our own “virtual” Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum last Wednesday, we invited Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo who are the respective chairpersons of the Senate and House committees on basic education and arts. Gatchalian and Roman are the principal authors and sponsors of the proposed legislation to defer the opening of classes for this coming school year. DepEd Undersecretary Jesus Mateo; CHED executive director Filipina Jara; and Benjo Basas, president of Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) also joined us in our webinar online platform.

For this week’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay, we took up this bill that was approved on third and final reading on the eve of the sine die adjournment of the second regular sessions of the 18th Congress. Both chambers winded down their sessions last night with the flurry of approval of a number of pending urgent bills that included this bill to reset the opening of classes for school year 2021-2022 while the C19 contagion still hovers all around the world.

With this deadly flu-like pandemic continue to claim lives in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly declared there would be no face-to-face classes for as long as there is no anti-C19 vaccine developed yet. President Duterte’s policy declaration, of course, is fully supported by the DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones announced last week she is constrained to follow this mandated timeframe – unless otherwise amended by another law – to implement the nationwide opening of classes starting Aug. 24. Briones, however, fears this could be risky since the number of C19 infection cases in the Philippines continue to rise despite the lockdowns still going on all around the country.

Both the DepEd and CHED are members of the expanded Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging and Infectious Disease (IATF-MEID) that regularly conducts risk assessment of C19 contagion as part of the policy tools in imposing lockdowns of areas/places and quarantine guidelines. After stringent enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) first imposed last March 15 for one month, the President has since then downgraded many parts of the country to general community quarantine (GCQ) until June 15.

Sen. Gatchalian and Congressman Roman shared the fear of President Duterte against sending our schoolchildren to attend face-to-face classes where C19 infection could be spread through close physical contact and from the droplets of the virus. The proposed bill would amend Republic Act (RA) 7797 which, among other things, seeks to grant “flexibility” to President Duterte and the DepEd to adjust the opening of classes in basic education covering students from kindergarten all the way to Grade 12.

Under RA 7797, Gatchalian pointed out, the opening of classes is set on the first Monday of June or not later than the last Monday of August of each year. “It’s a very simple bill but the objective is to protect our students, teachers and parents from the on-going pandemic,” the Senator pointed out. “So we must give the President the flexibility to move the class opening depending on the situation. That’s’ why I and Congressman Roman, we agreed to push for this legislation because we don’t want our parents, students and teachers to be put at risk,” he stressed.

Congressman Roman conceded there are valid grounds on the need to delay the opening of classes because no one knows how C19 contagion continues to spread unabated. “And we don’t want it to further spread. Definitely, there will be no face-to-face as long as there is no vaccine yet as the President declared and DepEd agreed and as long as there is risk, and not following minimum health standards,” Roman cited.

“Whether we open in August, September, or October, let us just help one another to find solutions, solutions, solutions. It will not be perfect (solutions) but let’s us help one another,” Roman appealed to all stakeholders of the country’s education sector.

Currently, a survey is being conducted at the same time with the “virtual” enrolment period to determine if parents would be able to send their children to schools under the so-called “blended learning” curriculum prepared by DepEd, Mateo disclosed. During the “virtual enrolment,” Mateo explained, “learner survey forms” were being given to parents to fill in answers to the following questions:

“Number (No.) 1, we asked parents if they will really send to school their children? If ‘No,’ we ask why? If yes, we explain to them there will be no face-to-face (classes). Then we ask: No. 1, are you okay with online? No. 2, are you okay with home-based schooling? No. 3, are you okay with distance learning?”

The combination of these three modes consist the so-called “blended learning,” Mateo said, that the DepEd came up with to address health risks posed by C19 contagion. These new modes, Mateo believes, would enable students to still interact with their teachers and parents as well without physical contact. The modes include telephone calls to schools; through short message service through mobile phone (SMS or text); through electronic mails; or through online or internet services.

Since these modes require electronic gadgets like computer desktops, laptops, and tablets and electricity to power them, the DepEd estimates as much as P23 billion additional budget to sustain the “blended learning.” Speaking for the teachers, Basas warned this could further widen the digital divide in the country’s education given the national income inequity.

Yet, one congressman wants to impose additional tax on digital economy. Go figure.