Out of the 67 nations analyzed, the Philippines was one of only four countries that received a five-star rating for its pandemic response across all levels of basic education.

In the recently-published Ensuring Equal Access to Education in Future Crises: Findings of the New Remote Learning Readiness Index (RLRI), the United Nation International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) cited the country’s response on basic education amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The RLRI is a new composite indicator to measure countries’ readiness to deliver remote learning in response to school closures.

Based on the UNICEF study, the Philippines --- alongside Argentina, Barbados, and Jamaica --- had “efficient policy responses supported by high emergency preparedness and existence of household factors that support remote learning.”

Spirit of ‘bayanihan’

Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd), in a statement on Thursday, Nov. 4, welcomed this citation and extended its appreciation to UNICEF.

“In this international recognition, we credit our teachers, parents, partners, learners, and other stakeholders for ensuring that learning opportunities shall be available to all Filipino children and showing the Bayanihan spirit in the realization of the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP),” DepEd said.

“Through our united efforts, we managed to support the education of more than 27 million learners while prioritizing their health and safety amidst the pandemic,” it added.

Room for improvement

Nonetheless, DepEd said that it is also taking note of the study’s recommendation to improve the curriculum and address learning gaps.

“The Department, together with our various partners, is continuously developing strategies to solve these familiar issues also encountered by other countries,” the agency said.

DepEd also noted that with these developments and the upcoming pilot implementation of face-to-face classes, “we call on our stakeholders to work with us in maintaining these positive insights from UNICEF and furthering our policies and response to school disruptions.”

Resumption of limited face-to-face classes

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Philippines schools have been closed since March 2020.

In an effort to ensure learning continuity at basic education, DepEd crafted the BE-LCP in School Year (SY) 2020-2021.

When the classes started on Oct. 5, 2020, distance learning set up was implemented.

Students learned their lessons at home through multiple learning delivery modalities which include printed and offline modular, television and radio-based instruction and blended learning or a combination of two or more delivery modalities.

This SY 2021-2022, which started on Sept. 13, DepEd once again adopted the BE-LCP and enhanced the implementation of various learning delivery modalities under blended learning.

A week after, on Sept. 20, President Duterte approved the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes in 120 public and private schools that offer basic education.

On Nov. 15, a total of 100 public schools will push through with the pilot run.

On Nov. 22 or a week after, 20 private schools are also expected to participate in the pilot study which will run for two months.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2021/11/03/sneak-peek-this-is-how-schools-will-look-like-during-pilot-face-to-face-classes/