THE Department of Education (DepEd) was able to register almost 10 million school children for the coming school year in the first eight days of enrolment, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said. By the end of the registration period on June 30, the DepEd expects that 28 million will have enrolled for the 2020-21 school year for all levels from kindergarten to Grade 12.
After the last day of enrolment on June 30, the DepEd and the Commission on Higher Education will have about two months to work on the big problem facing the school system this year – how to carry on with classroom work in the face of COVID-19 which is known to spread in mass gatherings through droplets in the air exhaled by an infected person.
President Duterte had earlier said he would not want classes to begin unless a cure or a vaccine is found. To this day, these have not been developed despite the efforts of scientists around the world. What if no such cure or vaccine is ready before the scheduled start of the school year on August 24?
School officials are now drawing up plans for some classroom meetings using the online process. The problem is that an estimated 35 percent of the nation’s students have no access to Internet, while another 30 percent do not have the needed online equipment. The nation’s teachers are also not trained or equipped to hold such online classes.
Secretary Briones said the DepEd is set to provide public school teachers with laptops they could use for online sessions, at a cost of P23 billion. But many millions of school children do not have such equipment, she said. She urged generous individuals and groups which usually donate backpacks, bags, ballpens, and notebooks to students to consider giving smartphones, tablets, and laptops instead.
To meet the protocols for mass gatherings such as distancing of one to two meters between two students, the nation’s schools will have to work out seating arrangements, limit class sizes, and hold more of them. But the bigger problem will be how to hold on-line classes and how effective they can be as a substitute for actual face-to-face meetings.
There are indeed so many problems our school system is facing this school year. Our school and other government officials will have two months to study them and come up with possible solutions. Or they can further postpone the opening of classes until it is truly safe to hold them.
It may take an entire year, according to some, but many parents would rather have this than have their children face the uncertain danger of COVID-19 infection and death in schools that are not quite ready for them.
The DepEd is proceeding with all preparations for the school year, including enrollment, acquisition of laptops, and training for teachers. But the ultimate decision on when to begin and hold classes for the nation’s school children will have to be made by the nation’s officials, led by President Duterte, in the next two months.
