‘Delayed’ printed learning materials a challenge for some students, teachers under distance learning

With the first quarter of the current school year about to end, some students and teachers raised concerns over the “delayed” delivery of printed learning materials, which are supposed to be used for a specific period under the distance learning setup of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Teacher “Alma” (not her real name), a public school teacher, told the Manila Bulletin that a week before classes started on Oct. 5, printed modules were distributed to students through their parents. However, out of the eight modules that were supposed to be given to students for eight subjects, only six were available at that time. The remaining printed modules came at a much later date.

“Alma” is a class adviser of Grade 8 students divided into Online Distance Learning (ODL) and Modular Distance Learning (MDL) - Printed. She explained that, while soft copies are available, there are still students who rely on the printed modules due to lack of access to technology and gadgets.

“Some of the parents have been asking me when the printed modules and activity sheets will become available and I could not give them an answer because even us—teachers—do not have an idea when these will be delivered,” teacher “Alma” said in Filipino.

Currently, most students are in their Week 9 in completing their activity sheets. However, teacher “Alma” noted that some of the printed activity sheets for Weeks 7 and 8 only came in last week. “I’m not sure if the students can still use these because they might have printed the learning materials already,” she added.

“Ryan” (not his real name) is also under printed modular learning. A grade 5 student in a public school, he also shared that until now, there are printed modules for some subjects that are not yet given to students like him. “May tatlo pa akong kapatid, wala kaming Internet o computer kaya hinihintay namin yung modules kasi magastos pag nagpa-print kaming lahat (I have three more siblings, we don’t have internet or computer so we’re waiting for the modules, it’s so expensive if we print these out),” he explained.

Based on the adjusted school calendar, the first quarter will end on Dec. 12. Students are required to submit the completed learning activity sheets (LAS) as part of their academic requirements.

Last month, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) called out DepEd for allegedly “wasting funds” on printed modules that are delivered late.
ACT received reports from Region I of modules on topics “which the learners have already finished studying in the past weeks.” Teachers have reported to the group that “truckloads of central office modules were delivered” in Ilocos schools in the second week of November. “The delivery includes printed modules for week 6 or earlier while the learners are now studying modules for weeks 8 to 10,” ACT said.

DepEd denied these claims, however, noting that it was “implausible” since funds for printing of modules were already decentralized or downloaded to the regions. Thus, printing of modules takes place at the local level and not at the Central Office.

Pressed for clarification, ACT said that it is still double-checking the teachers' reports that modules from the Central Office were delivered to their schools. “What we have confirmed is that the division office delivered the modules to the districts, and the schools were asked to pick up the modules from the district,” the group said.

ACT said that the teachers referred to the modules as “from the Central Office” as they are the modules uploaded in the DepEd CO portal and are different from the locally-developed modules that they have been using for weeks. “Our concern remains that money is being wasted due to DepEd’s unpreparedness and ineptitude,” the group stressed.

For ACT, the problem of the delayed modules stems from how the central office modules have been completed late and have only been made available online a few weeks before class opening or later. “As such, there is no way that these modules can be printed on time, especially with government procurement processes,” the group said.