Convenient as it may seem, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said proposals to give students passing grades at a time of a COVID-19 pandemic will not work.
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, echoed the Department of Education’s (DepEd) belief students need proper education assessment to monitor their learning progress.
“It’s really convenient to just pass everyone and let them proceed with the higher grade. That’s the most convenient way, wag na tayo mag exam (let’s forego the exams) or assessment,” Gatchalian said in an interview on One News Agenda.
“(But) education is not about what’s convenient for our government, it’s about making sure that our learners learn and we help those who cannot keep up,” the senator stressed.
“I’m not in favor of that ‘no-fail’ proposal because we have to pinpoint the weaknesses of our learners,” he said.
The senator said learners who are weak in Math, or in reading need intervention through the form of tutorials or one-on-one classes or one-on-one intervention. He also said crucial that the country’s 25 million learners in the basic education sector are learning enough and are prepared for their next level of schooling.
“That way, when he or she moves to the next grade level, he can keep up with the rigors of the next grade level and work well in the next grade level. The problem with the ‘no-fail’ policy is that we cannot pinpoint the weaknesses and it would be very difficult for the learners to keep up with next grade level if that learner will have some weaknesses or subjects that he cannot comprehend with,” he said.
Gatchalian noted the DepEd had to innovate and come up with a different assessment system now that students are into distance learning.
“Based on those examinations, the teacher will assess the weaknesses of the student. It’s not the usual quizzes or exam, there will be a different assessment methodology,” he pointed out.
“Most likely it will be written, most likely it will be in packets but the important thing here is we will be able to determine what are the weaknesses, what subject matters need improvement and intervention,” he stressed.
That is why, he said, he is suggesting that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and the DepEd, study other countries, particularly the United States, on how to resume face-to-face classes in a safer way.
“The only research that came out about face-to-face classes was from the CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US and they we’re saying, in their one year of analysis and observation, they concluded that schools are not the haven for virus contraction,” he noted. “So meaning students can actually avoid contracting the virus in schools and the logic for that is, in schools they are monitored, they practice health protocols, social distancing. It is only in their homes or outside the schools that you cannot control them anymore,” Gatchalian said.