The unreliable internet signal in the country emerged as the top problem among teachers and students under the distance learning set-up according to a survey.
The Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education (SEQuRe Education Movement) on Thursday, July 15, released the results of a survey it conducted to assess the one-year implementation of the distance learning program in public basic education in the country.
Conducted from June 25 to July 2, 2021, the said survey conducted by SEQuRe Education Movement was participated in by 1,278 teachers; 1,299 Grades 4 to 12 students; and 3,172 parents who largely came from Metro Manila.
Based on the survey, 57 to 66 percent of the respondents “attested that their academic work is affected by intermittent internet signal from a few times a month to a few times in a week.”
SEQuRe Education Movement said that “about one fourth of both teachers and students suffer worse as they experience this on a daily basis.”
Limitations amplified
The survey results indicated that the “intrinsic limitations of distance learning modalities were amplified” by the wanting government funding and support to remote learning needs.
“The limitations on teacher-student interaction under remote learning is diminished further by problems on gadgets and internet connectivity,” SEQuRe Education Movement said.
Aside from unreliable internet signal, the survey showed that limited access to devices and technology was also “high among students” - wherein only one in every five online learners have access to computers while not even half have internet connection at home.
“While up to 89 percent of student respondents have smartphones or tablets, such would not suffice to have meaningful online learning as they need computers to actually accomplish their academic requirements,” the survey said.
Likewise, the survey noted that in the absence of government-provided laptops, “teachers also grappled with accessing devices as only 37 percent manifested that such is not a problem at all.”
Another problem was the additional internet costs which “bled teachers and students’ families dry” as up 32 percent of teacher-respondents said that it has become a daily problem and 55 percent attested that internet expenses “troubled them a few times in a week or in a month.”
Results of the survey also showed that about 70 to 75 percent of students and parents - in the samples - were encumbered with internet costs from daily to a few times a month.
“About 53 percent of parents pegged their monthly family internet expenses for distance learning at P600 to P1,200, a sizable portion of their family income, which hardly reaches P10,000 per month for most respondents,” the survey showed.
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