The Department of Education (DepEd) is conducting a series of online learning activities to prepare parents, teachers, school heads and non-teaching personnel as the education system transitions into the New Normal.
DepEd Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Services (DRRMS) Director Ronilda Co highlighted the importance of the activities noting, “This public health emergency has disrupted their lives as much as it severely impacted ours."
For parents, the DepEd launched the “Gabay Bahay: An Online Parenting Series,” a learning activity streamed live every Wednesday on the DepEd Philippines Facebook page that is aimed towards engaging parents in protecting the health, safety and well-being of their children.
“With the emergence of the pandemic, the task to educate students has become more challenging because schools are temporarily halted and we saw that parents could be vital in fulfilling the learning continuity,” DepEd said.
Save the Children prepared the modules for the sessions while Globe Telecom Inc. provides resource persons.
The online activity started last July 15 and will run until August 19.
For secondary teachers, school heads and identified DepEd region and division non-teaching personnel, DepEd launched on July 21 an online training on Psychological First Aid (PFA) using the Supporting, Enabling and Empowering Students (SEES) Manual, among other supplemental online and self-guided PFA modules, and guidance notes. It will culminate July 30.
The objective of the program is to prepare teachers, identified DepEd non-teaching personnel and parents in looking after their wellness to enable them to fulfill their respective duties and responsibilities.
The sessions are conducted with participants clustered by regional groups.
Cluster 1 includes school heads of secondary schools and identified DepEd region and division non-teaching personnel from all regions.
The remaining five clusters include secondary school teachers of all regions.
Training on remote psychosocial support through play for elementary pupils will also be conducted for elementary school teachers, school heads and identified DepEd division non-teaching personnel from August 3 to 6.
The training will focus on the utilization of the Teacher's Activity Guide on Psychosocial Support through Play developed by Unilab Foundation Inc through their Heads Up Project.
Unilab Foundation Inc has been one of DepEd's partners in providing PSS intervention to elementary learners affected by disasters since 2017.
The Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD) Employee Welfare Division (EWD) and DRRMS with the assistance of the National Education Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) is also providing psychosocial support and wellness training to teachers and non-teaching personnel until September 11.
“Personnel who are not reached by this session shall be provided with psychosocial support by the region or division through alternative means like phone calls or face-to-face subject to physical distancing measures and localized preventive measures,” the DRRMS noted.