As millions of Filipino learners face a second year of distance learning, a group of education workers called on the government to provide sufficient support for learners to be able to help them cope with the demands of distance learning.

With over 28 million enrollees for School Year (SY) 2021-2022, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines pushed for the immediate provision of gadget and internet support for learners-in-need.

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https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/15/unreliable-internet-signal-is-top-problem-of-teachers-students-under-distance-learning-survey/

“The increase in enrollees this school year despite the continuing health and economic crisis and challenging distance learning set-up only proves our youth’s desire to learn and go back to school,” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.

Based on the latest enrollment data released by the Department of Education (DepEd), there are 28,219,623 enrollees for basic education this school year.

Of this number, 21, 603, 004 learners enrolled in public schools since the enrollment period started on Aug. 16. Before SY 2021-2022 formally opened in public schools on Sept. 16, DepEd has recorded 4,557, 327 early registrants in March to May.

Given this number of enrollees, ACT said that the government must be able to address the gaps in distance learning which is being implemented by DepEd amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19 ) situation in the country.

“The government should fulfill its responsibility to support our learners and ensure that no one gets left behind,” Basilio said. “They have already failed to support millions of learners last school year, hindi na dapat maulit ito (this should not happen again),” he added.

In particular, ACT is pushing for the provision of gadgets worth P6,000 per unit and a P150 monthly internet allowance to 20 percent of the “poorest learners.” However, the group expressed concern that this may not be considered with “major cuts” in the budget of DepEd for 2022.

“Despite a promising number of enrollees, however, DepEd only received a meager 5.9 percent or P32.8-billion increase in their budget according to the 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) with hardly any provision for the immediate needs of distance learning,” ACT said.

ACT also lamented the major cuts on “vital programs” like basic education facilities, flexible learning options, and Indigenous People’s Education Program (IPED), while there was no provision for student aid.

Citing the results of a survey it conducted just before the opening of a new SY, ACT noted that “only about 40 percent” student-respondents in Metro Manila and 10 percent from other regions will be provided with gadget support. Meanwhile, only four percent and .5 percent, respectively, noted that they will “receive support” for internet connectivity costs.

“We’ve already witnessed how millions of our learners had to suffer the consequences of the government’s negligence and incompetence,” Basilio said. He also alleged that DepEd’s “fiscal irresponsibility also delayed, if not totally resulted in the denial of, the already paltry P300-million student aid allocation” in the "Bayanihan 2."

Basilio said that this SY, “there should be no more excuses from the government as there are enough data from the ground to help us address the problems of distance learning.”