IN normal times, we would see the start this week of nationwide preparations for the new school year. Under “Oplan Balik Eskwela,” various government and private institutions would begin carrying out various activities to support the Department of Education’s efforts to ensure that the nation’s students and pupils are properly enrolled and ready for school.
Over a dozen institutions are involved in this annual pre-school year activity. The Philippine National Police, for example, deploys personnel all over the country to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and parents, especially on the first day of school. The Department of Trade and Industry intensifies its price monitoring activities to ensure against any undue rise in the prices of school supplies. The Department of Public Works and Highways sees to it that no engineering projects are done in streets that will hamper access to schools.
The concept here is that education is not just the responsibility of the Department of Education, but also that of other government agencies as well as the private sector, Secretary of Education Leonor Briones said at the launching of Oplan Balik Eskwela in 2019.
Also at about this time, we would see the start of another school opening program – Brigada Eskwela – when various organizations in the community joined in making repairs on school buildings and looking after various other needs of the school after the long summer vacation.
This year, all previously laid plans for the new school year have been upset by the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the entire world, causing so many deaths, closing down businesses, and sending national economies crashing.
From the traditional June opening of classes in the Philippines, the DepEd decided to postpone it to August this year. This is based on the hope that by August – three months from now – the threat posed by COVID-19 shall have sufficiently died down so that life would start going back to normal.
This is not happening, however. The infections and deaths continue to rise around the world. In the Philippines, the spread of the virus has been considerably controlled, but remains a serious threat, so that the ban on mass gatherings and the order to maintain social distancing continue all over the country.
School opening has been moved from June to August this year, but Secretary Briones pointed out this week, “I acknowledge the fears and apprehensions of our learners, parents, and teachers, that holding classes in the usual classroom setting in August might still not be safe in light of COVID-19.”
Schools are now scheduled to hold enrolment from June 1 to June 30 for all learners, to use online systems where possible, while adhering at all times to social distancing protocols. After that, there will be the whole month of July and most of August, before the scheduled start of the school year on August 24.
