BY MERLINA HERNANDO-MALIPOT
The Department of Education (DepEd) has decentralized the self-learning modules to be used by students this upcoming school year in an effort to fasttrack the printing and distribution process especially for those without access to technology.
DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said that the printing of self-learning modules is currently “ongoing.” To speed up the printing of learning materials, he said that these are “decentralized at the field offices,” particularly in regions, divisions, and schools.
Since the learning modules were decentralized, DepEd currently has no exact numbers on how many have been printed or being printed because this will depend on the needs on the ground.
For the first month of the upcoming school year, DepEd said that at least 700 self-learning modules will be used to cover the lessons across all grade levels in basic education. Modules in the subsequent months are currently being prepared.
San Antonio said that the data on the numbers of students who will be using various alternative learning modalities are “still being consolidated.”
Initial data from DepEd as of the first week of July showed that most students prefer to use the “modular” approach among the blended and distance learning options. This is after the month-long enrollment period in public schools last June when students were asked their preferred learning delivery mode through a survey form.
Without face-to-face classes, DepEd will implement blended and distance learning where the combination of the various distance learning modalities such as printed modules, offline digital modules, online, and TV and radio-based instruction will be used by students and teachers when classes start on Aug. 24.
Based on the partial results of the Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (LESFs) distributed during the enrollment period, it showed 7.2 million enrollees prefer to use modular distance learning, TV and radio-based instructions and other modalities while only two million enrollees prefer online for school year 2020-2021.
Of this number, 3, 885, 427 students prefer “modular” in which modules – either printed or digital – will be used as an alternative learning option. A total of 2, 074, 010 said that they wanted online while 1,940, 054 prefer a combination of face-to-face with other modalities. At least 744, 648 students said they want to use television while 358, 270 preferred radio-based instruction. Some 401, 903 responded that they prefer “other” alternative learning modalities.
