At least 7,342,121 parents and 620,794 teachers have already undergone training in distance learning in preparation for the formal opening of classes on October 5, 2020, the Department of Education (DepEd) said.
Aside from the training, DepEd also conducted orientation and other related activities to help teachers and parents have a better understanding of how distance learning works.
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said these training opportunities will continue throughout the school year.
Some training for teachers are provided through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), DepEd-Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), and DepEd- Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service (DRRMS). Others are organized and conducted by various DepEd regional offices and divisions.
Malaluan said that out of the 620,794 teachers who had completed their training as of September 13, 39,134 were trained in Region IX-Zamboanga Peninsula; 27,184 in Region X-Northern Mindanao; 39,839 in Region XI-Davao Region; 18,714 in Region XII-Soccsksargen; 36,577 in Region XIII - CARAGA ; 10,566 in National Capital Region (NCR); and 13,234 in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
The 7,342,121 parents were trained on distance learning modalities as they are expected to supervise the learning of children while they are at home.
Of this number, 225,685 parents were trained in Region IX; 670,168 in Region X; 416,874 in Region XI; 154,412 in Region XII; 291,443 in Region XIII; 1,697,104 in NCR; and 4,663 in CAR.
DepEd is still waiting for updated data from Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country, schools will remain closed when the formal classes start on Oct. 5. Since in-person or face-to-face classes will not take place, a distance learning approach will be implemented wherein education will be delivered remotely to students as long as they are enrolled.
As of Sept. 18, DepEd national data showed that the enrollment for SY 2020-2021 has already reached 24.50 million or 88.24% of last year’s enrollment. Of this number, 22.34 million students or 99.01% of the SY 2020-2021 enrollment are in public schools. There are also 2.10 million students enrolled in private schools which comprise 48.9% of last school year’s enrollment.
This school year, students and parents were asked to choose which alternative learning delivery modalities under the distance/blending they prefer. Based on their capacities, parents and students were asked to choose between modular learning (both printed and offline), online learning, and TV or radio-based instruction. Some schools “blended” these modalities depending on the needs of their students.