Manila Bulletin
Philippines
DepEd braces for 'grueling transition, birth pains' as it adapts into new normal in education
Philippines
DepEd braces for 'grueling transition, birth pains' as it adapts into new normal in education
DepEd braces for 'grueling transition, birth pains' as it adapts into new normal in education
Published May 6, 2020 12:00 am
By Merlina Hernando-Malipot
Forced to adapt into the “new normal” due to COVID-19, the Department of Education (DepEd) assured that it will continue to make the necessary adjustments without compromising the health and safety of its learners and personnel.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, DepEd said that as the country continues to confront the issues brought about by the pandemic, the agency is addressing challenges in basic education through the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), which will be in effect by the time School Year (SY) 2020-2021 opens on Aug. 24.
“We expect a grueling transition, and we will need the help and support of all our stakeholders,” DepEd said. “There will be birth pains in this path but we look forward having our teachers, our parents, our learners, and our communities as allies who will work with us to provide valuable insights and contributions,” it added.
Striking a balance
While it is pushing for continuity of learning amid the pandemic, DepEd clarified that the safety and welfare of learners, as well as its teaching and non-teaching personnel, are of utmost importance.
“We reiterate the importance of education to bring normalcy to the lives of our learners but their health and safety, ultimately, is most important,” DepEd said.
DepEd noted that for months now, the united efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic are “producing promising results in defeating the unseen threat” but still, “our country, and the world at large, is facing new challenges brought about by this unforeseen public health crisis.”
Amid these challenges, DepEd said that it has developed the LCP as its “major response and our commitment in ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our learners, teachers, and personnel in the time of COVID-19 while finding ways for education to continue amidst the crisis for the upcoming school year.”
“Putting it into perspective, we have delayed the opening of classes to ensure that our learners and teachers are given time and be properly equipped to adjust to this new learning environment,” DepEd said. SY 2020-2021, as announced by Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier, starts on Aug. 24, 2020 and will end on April 30, 2021.
DepEd also stressed that its policies will be continuously guided by science and by the advice of health experts, noting that “education can and must continue but only under the conditions and health protocols” set by the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
School opening preparations
DepEd’s decision to open classes on August continues to draw mixed reactions from stakeholders. Based on the comments from netizens in various social media sites, some commend the agency for delaying the school calendar while others criticize DepEd for allegedly putting the health and lives of learners at risk.
“On school opening, we would like to emphasize that it will not necessarily mean that teachers and learners will undergo the traditional in-classroom set-up,” DepEd said.
The Education department noted that it has also repeatedly consulted and collaborated with partner institutions and organizations in crafting the LC, which includes key features on K-12 curriculum adjustments, alignment of learning materials, various modalities of delivery, and corresponding teacher and parent/guardian training for homeschooling.
These modifications on certain policies and practices, DepEd explained, “were necessary steps” in adapting to the new normal while still remaining true to the framework of its “Sulong EduKalidad” and “Education Futures” initiatives.
DepEd said that in the LCP, the choice and contextualization of the learning delivery modality of schools will depend on the local COVID-19 situation as well as access to certain learning platforms. “Even as we set policies in the central office, we will primarily consider local public health conditions in adjusting our LCP,” DepEd asid. “Preventive measures will be put in place to secure the health and well-being of our personnel and our learners under this new normal,” it added.
“Access, as we are all aware, is another issue of utmost concern and we have devised various modalities to ensure that online learning is only one of the options among all others in this new learning environment,” it explained.
DepEd reiterated that its field units will be responsible for determining the most appropriate combinations or strategies for every locality as “we look into addressing equity concerns of our constituents in this new arrangement.”
The department said that it remains committed to the ultimate goal of facilitating the safe return of teachers and learners to schools. “We will do everything in our capacity to carry on so that basic education will still be available despite the crisis,” DepEd said.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, DepEd said that as the country continues to confront the issues brought about by the pandemic, the agency is addressing challenges in basic education through the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), which will be in effect by the time School Year (SY) 2020-2021 opens on Aug. 24.
“We expect a grueling transition, and we will need the help and support of all our stakeholders,” DepEd said. “There will be birth pains in this path but we look forward having our teachers, our parents, our learners, and our communities as allies who will work with us to provide valuable insights and contributions,” it added.
Striking a balance
While it is pushing for continuity of learning amid the pandemic, DepEd clarified that the safety and welfare of learners, as well as its teaching and non-teaching personnel, are of utmost importance.
“We reiterate the importance of education to bring normalcy to the lives of our learners but their health and safety, ultimately, is most important,” DepEd said.
DepEd noted that for months now, the united efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic are “producing promising results in defeating the unseen threat” but still, “our country, and the world at large, is facing new challenges brought about by this unforeseen public health crisis.”
Amid these challenges, DepEd said that it has developed the LCP as its “major response and our commitment in ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our learners, teachers, and personnel in the time of COVID-19 while finding ways for education to continue amidst the crisis for the upcoming school year.”
“Putting it into perspective, we have delayed the opening of classes to ensure that our learners and teachers are given time and be properly equipped to adjust to this new learning environment,” DepEd said. SY 2020-2021, as announced by Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier, starts on Aug. 24, 2020 and will end on April 30, 2021.
DepEd also stressed that its policies will be continuously guided by science and by the advice of health experts, noting that “education can and must continue but only under the conditions and health protocols” set by the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
School opening preparations
DepEd’s decision to open classes on August continues to draw mixed reactions from stakeholders. Based on the comments from netizens in various social media sites, some commend the agency for delaying the school calendar while others criticize DepEd for allegedly putting the health and lives of learners at risk.
“On school opening, we would like to emphasize that it will not necessarily mean that teachers and learners will undergo the traditional in-classroom set-up,” DepEd said.
The Education department noted that it has also repeatedly consulted and collaborated with partner institutions and organizations in crafting the LC, which includes key features on K-12 curriculum adjustments, alignment of learning materials, various modalities of delivery, and corresponding teacher and parent/guardian training for homeschooling.
These modifications on certain policies and practices, DepEd explained, “were necessary steps” in adapting to the new normal while still remaining true to the framework of its “Sulong EduKalidad” and “Education Futures” initiatives.
DepEd said that in the LCP, the choice and contextualization of the learning delivery modality of schools will depend on the local COVID-19 situation as well as access to certain learning platforms. “Even as we set policies in the central office, we will primarily consider local public health conditions in adjusting our LCP,” DepEd asid. “Preventive measures will be put in place to secure the health and well-being of our personnel and our learners under this new normal,” it added.
“Access, as we are all aware, is another issue of utmost concern and we have devised various modalities to ensure that online learning is only one of the options among all others in this new learning environment,” it explained.
DepEd reiterated that its field units will be responsible for determining the most appropriate combinations or strategies for every locality as “we look into addressing equity concerns of our constituents in this new arrangement.”
The department said that it remains committed to the ultimate goal of facilitating the safe return of teachers and learners to schools. “We will do everything in our capacity to carry on so that basic education will still be available despite the crisis,” DepEd said.