ENDEAVOR
To prioritize public schools for the safe reopening of face-to-face classes, the Department of Education (DepEd) is using a School Safety Assessment Tool (SSAT). According to the DepEd, 6,686 public schools nationwide — or 14 percent of the 47,612 total public schools — have passed muster. Some 304 — or .006 percent of the total — schools in five out of 17 regions of the country are included in the “expansion phase” of the project. At this pace of implementation, how long will it take before the long-expected return to a “better normal” would be realized?
Out of an abundance of caution, the DepEd’s safety assessment guidelines are, indeed, most comprehensive, covering the following aspects of managing school operations: shared responsibility with the local government units (LGUs), parents and the community; alternative work arrangements including availability, transportation and health of teachers; classroom layout and structure, with emphasis on physical distancing and adequate ventilation (including the use of high-efficiency particulate air filtration air purifiers); school traffic management; protective measures, hygiene factors and safety procedures; communication strategy and contingency plan.
And these are not all. In addition to the foregoing requirements, there is one more that needs to be complied with, namely, the inclusion of the marginalized learners, with an equally comprehensive coverage: “indigent children; out-of-school youth; physically and mentally handicapped; distressed individuals and families, including internally displaced persons; low resourced students; abandoned and neglected children; street children; children of former rebels; children living in conflict-affected areas and vulnerable communities; children with disabilities and special education (SPED) students; and children from geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.”
Far be it for me to disparage the DepEd’s efforts. Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, who has weathered several episodes of COVID-19 infection, has provided steady leadership in ensuring learning continuity during extremely difficult conditions.
With the COVID risk level tapering off progressively towards the low-risk zone, there is ground for optimism that the country’s children could be enabled to return to schools at a faster pace.
A quick flashback to the onset of the global pandemic two years ago —
In his Facebook post last March 15, 2020, a religion teacher in the USA named Brandon Bayne outlined his five principles before even releasing his course requirements. He said:
1. Nobody signed up for this.
* Not for the sickness, not for the social distancing, not for the sudden end of our collective lives together on campus.
* Not for an online class, not for teaching remotely, not for learning from home, not for mastering new technologies, not for varied access to learning materials.
2. The humane option is the best option.
* We are going to prioritize supporting each other as humans.
* We are going to prioritize simple solutions that make sense for the most.
* We are going to prioritize sharing resources and communicating clearly.
3. We cannot just do the same thing online.
* Some assignments are no longer possible.
* Some expectations are no longer possible.
* Some objectives are no longer valuable.
4. We will foster intellectual nourishment, social connection, and personal accommodation.
* Accessible asynchronous content for diverse access, time zones, and contexts.
* Optional synchronous discussion to learn together and combat isolation.
5. We will remain flexible and adjust to the situation.
* Nobody knows where this is going and what we’ll need to adapt.
* Everybody needs support and understanding in this unprecedented moment.
Brandon Bayne is an associate professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He holds a doctor of theology degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree in divinity from the Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary.
In essence, Dr. Bayne is proposing the adoption of a new mindset on learning and education that looks beyond the classroom and the campus. He is in favor of adopting salient aspects of the erstwhile “new normal” during the height of the pandemic into a “better normal.” In basic education, this includes the involvement of parents and elders at home as co-educators. It “normalizes” hybrid or blended learning: the adoption of both “synchronous” (same time) and “asynchronous” (“own time” or “variable time”) learning that could take place either face-to-face in physical classrooms or virtually by using internet connectivity.
Flexibility and adaptability are keys to accelerating a shift to a “better normal” scenario. It is time to adopt a new learning paradigm that veers away from being campus- and classroom-centric. What about adopting an optimal amalgam of face-to-face and virtual, synchronous and asynchronous modes of learning that could bring about more diversity, equity and inclusion?
It is time to harvest the fruits of digital transformation that has accelerated at a breathtaking pace as an offshoot of the global pandemic. But wait, as pointed out by former DICT Undersecretary Monchito Ibrahim in a recent column, there is a need to bridge a “widening digital divide.”
Internet user penetration rate in Mindanao is only about 32 percent or half the estimated level in Metro Manila. He cites three imperatives: enactment by Congress of the proposed Open Access in Data Transmission Act; a tenfold increase in the DICT budget, and the building of a national internet backbone. All these could be facilitated by a progressive, forward looking national leadership that the Filipino people could elect on May 9, 2022.