A group of teachers issued an initial assessment on the opening readiness of schools under the Department of Education (DepEd) Thursday and launched a hotline where parents, students, teachers, and other individuals can send their concerns on the opening of classes on Oct. 5.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, in a virtual presser via Zoom, shared and discussed the results of its school readiness survey among teachers.
ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said the online survey focused on preparedness on school safety, teaching, and learning resources and techniques, protection of education frontliners, installation of support mechanisms, and the perceptions on level of preparedness of stakeholders.
Basilio explained that the efforts of school heads and teachers to install health and safety measures in the schools are “evident as minimum health standards that are well within the local school capacities and resources are largely practiced.”
However, Basilio noted that the important health and safety measures that entail building of infrastructure, installation of facilities and hiring of personnel, and required hefty funding from the national government are “lagging behind.”
ACT said there is “insufficiency” of capable laptops and reliable Internet connection. These remain inadequately addressed despite the best efforts of teachers themselves and donations from the local government units and private citizens.
Basilio noted that while the majority have reported having sufficient printed modules for their students, completing the printing of enough learning modules to achieve the 1:1 ratio of module set per students is a “big challenge, especially with DepEd’s resigned acceptance that such cannot be attained.”
He added that health protection mechanisms lack of access to safe and sufficient transportation is a “dominant problem” while the installation of support mechanisms to ensure the quality of education is also “gravely lagging behind.”
Despite these concerns, Basilio said that “teachers think that they are the most-ready” followed by the local school and students.