The challenges of DepEd for school year 2020

While the whole world continues to suffer from this global pandemic due to the lockdowns that we had to undergo, not only are Filipinos suffering due to the closure of businesses, our children also had to suffer due to the fact that the 2020 school year has been postponed to August. School season used to start last June, but has been moved to August thanks to COVID-19.

It’s for this reason that I asked Department of Education (DepEd) Region 7 Director Salustiano T. “Sal” Jimenez to be my special guest on my TV talk show “Straight from the Sky”. I learned from him that DepEd-7 is trying to implement its alternative modes of learning, and stressed that although it’s a challenge for them to prepare and facilitate learning in a different setup, the agency is still committed to fulfill its mandate and make education available even during the pandemic.

However, he said his boss, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, informed all DepEd regional directors that they will conform to President Duterte’s directive that face-to-face classes shall be postponed until a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available. This means students who cannot access wifi or SMS in their home cannot have a chance to go to school this year, unless the president comes up with a new directive for children with no access to technology.

So watch this interview with Director Sal Jimenez on SkyCable’s channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV’s channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.

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Again I would like to reiterate that the major challenges that DepEd is facing these days if it really opens the school year in August. That there are many parents who cannot afford computers for their children if they have two or three kids. Also like what is happening in the mountain barangays of Cebu, there is no internet connection or even cellular signal, so how can the children use the online modules in schools when they are out of reach of today’s technology? This is not to mention that many parents are running out of money due to our frozen economy.

While there was a total of 6,415,878 million students enrolled in public and private schools nationwide as of June 8, we expect a higher turnout as the enrollment was extended from end of June to July 15. However, what is disturbing here is what Jimenez told me that the number of enrollment in private schools has not even reached 50%. I would like to believe that parents who send their kids to private schools are those who lost their jobs due to the lockdown in this pandemic. I’m sure that these parents are contemplating on transferring their children from private schools to government schools. However, they must make this decision this week as tomorrow is the last day for DepEd’s enrollment extension.

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Meanwhile it was headlined in The FREEMAN last Friday that backriding in motorcycles is now allowed for married couples. This means that this week if Cebu City shifts from our present Enhanced Community Quarantine to a General Community Quaratine, married working people can now go to work or to their businesses, if these are open. However, I find it funny or even ridiculous that all these motorcycles have to install a shield to prevent infection.

Why can’t Presidential Harry Roque understand that married couples do not need to distance from one another? So if they are allowed to ride a motorcycle why now would they be required to have a separator between them? I’ve been a motorcycle rider since my teen years and installing such a device makes a very unstable motorcycle! No less than Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte is a motorcycle rider, including his daughter Sara Duterte, mayor of Davao City. I’m sure they would agree with me that installing this device makes a very unstable motorcycle.

More importantly, not all motorcycle chassis have the same build. Meaning, while such an unwieldy device can be installed in one particular motorcycle, it cannot be installed in another motorcycle. I submit that when the LTFRB allowed married couples to back ride, someone thought of this devise without thinking of the safety of the riders! I call it stupid!