After two school years without face-to-face classes, the empty halls and corridors of public schools nationwide will once again be filled with students as the Department of Education (DepEd) formally opens the School Year (SY) 2022-2023 on Monday, Aug. 22.
“We are still living in an extraordinary time but the dedication, commitment and hard work demonstrated by everyone leading to the opening of our schools on Aug. 22 is not only equally extraordinary but also inspiring --- showing how important it is for us that our children are equipped with the right knowledge and skill set,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said during the launch of DepEd’s “Oplan Balik Eskwela” for 2022 last week.
Due to the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, in-person classes were not allowed in SY 2020-2021 and SY 2021-2022.
Instead, DepEd shifted to distance learning where students learned their lessons at home through multiple learning delivery modalities such as printed/offline modular; online; radio and television-based instruction; and blended learning or a combination of two delivery modes.
For the first time in two years, public schools nationwide will be opening their doors to all students for face-to-face classes.
To monitor the first day of classes, Duterte will be in Dinalupihan Elementary School in Bataan to lead the 2022 National School Opening Day Program (NSDOP).
School opening readiness
Recognizing the challenges with the reintroduction of in-person learning, DepEd said that school opening preparations have been underway weeks before the first day of classes.
“In general, the DepEd is very confident that we’re ready for this coming school year,” DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/19/its-all-systems-go-for-the-opening-of-classes-deped/
During the meeting with Regional Directors for the opening of classes, Poa shared that “all of them are confident that we’re ready not only to go back to school but to a certain degree, in face-to-face or in-person classes.”
As of Aug. 20, DepEd said that there are 27,691, 191 enrolled learners for this SY. DepEd has set a 28.6-million target enrollment for SY 2022-2023.
Region IV-A has the most number of enrollees with 3,709,599; followed by Region III with 2,810,330; and the National Capital Region (NCR) with 2,406,014.
To help the schools with the reopening of classes, Poa said that P3.7 billion was released as supplemental Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for schools nationwide to respond to the “need for facilities.”
The supplemental MOOE, Poa explained, will help ensure that the schools will be able to respond to emerging needs especially related to the conduct of face-to-face classes.
Poa said that schools are given the “flexibility” to use their MOOE to ensure that facilities would be enough, especially in ensuring that minimum health and safety standards would be observed for in-person classes.
For the teachers, Poa said that the P5,000 cash allowance will also be released. “They can use this to prepare and buy things for the classroom,” he explained.
Transition period
Recognizing the need to prepare the schools, teachers, and learners for the reintroduction of in-classroom learning, DepEd has set a three-month transition period for both public and private schools.
As stated in DepEd guidelines, schools are allowed to implement a learning delivery modality of their choice from Aug. 22 to Oct. 31. They may choose to implement full face-to-face, blended, or full distance learning.
Starting Nov.2, DepEd said that all schools that offer basic education should have transitioned to full face-to-face classes.
“We are still getting the numbers as they come from our regions but there are already regions that will implement 98 percent in-person classes,” Poa said.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/14/schools-to-implement-chosen-learning-delivery-mode-during-transition-period-deped-says/
In SY 2021-2022, 76 percent of schools implemented face-to-face classes, based on DepEd’s data. “We’re hoping for a higher number than that this year so we will see,” he added.
As of Aug. 19, Poa said that 24, 175 or 46 percent of schools nationwide will conduct five days of in-person classes.
A total of 29,721 or 51.8 of schools will implement a blended learning modality which, Poa said, also has an “in-person aspect.” Most schools will be combining face-to-face classes and distance learning in one week.
Given this, Poa explained that “90 percent of schools nationwide will open the SY 2022-2023 with an in-person aspect on school opening.” Meanwhile, Poa explained that only 1,004 or 1.29 percent of schools nationwide will implement full distance learning.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/19/90-of-schools-nationwide-to-open-sy-2022-2023-with-in-person-aspect-deped/
Data provided by DepEd showed that there are over 60,000 schools that offer the K to 12 program nationwide. Of this, 12,624 are private and 47, 553 are public schools.
Curriculum, learning loss
Since DepEd is still trying to transition from distance learning to full in-classroom learning, the curriculum will still be based on the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) this SY.
When it implemented distance learning under the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) in the last two school years, DepEd had to streamline the curriculum by reducing learning competencies from over 14,000 to around 6,000.
“We will still continue MELCS while we are reviewing the entire K to 12,” Poa explained. “However, there will be interventions done so between now and during the transition period, we are looking into the gaps and then we will address those gaps accordingly,” he added.
Poa noted that DepEd is also looking into addressing the learning losses brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are in the transition period, we are focusing on the most essential learning competencies but we will definitely address and try to close the gap in terms of the learning gap which was caused by the pandemic,” he added.
For this school year, Poa said that schools --- through the teachers --- will assess their students to check where learning gaps are.
“Once the teachers have assessed who among the students are having difficulties, perhaps we can encourage them to go to these after class sessions,” Poa said.
Among the interventions that DepEd is looking into include an after-school program where accredited tutors will help children who are struggling with literacy skills and training of teachers --- among others.
The all-year “Brigada Eskwela Plus” program, Poa said, also features a reading advocacy component.
Poa said that the learning loss is one of the reasons why DepEd is pushing for in-person classes.
Reading, for example, needs phonetics and if the learners are at home, this will be difficult especially if they are under self-learning modules or even online classes where there is no interaction.
“So hopefully, with in-person, we will be able to at least improve in the near future, the literacy skills of our learners,” he added.
Gaps in resources
Even before the pandemic, there has been a shortage in educational resources in public schools due to the continued increase in enrollment every year.
“The major challenge we are experiencing right now is the lack of classrooms,” said Education Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III during the Senate committee on basic education hearing on Aug. 19.
He noted that “more or less there is around 91,000 shortage in classrooms, around 10 percent of the required classrooms in this country would be needed.”
In previous press conferences, DepEd key officials noted that shortages in classrooms are more prevalent in highly-populated areas such as Metro Manila and Region IV-A.
To address this, DepEd directed schools to implement shifting of classes and blended learning.
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said they have been citing reports from the field of the problems that schools and teachers are experiencing related to the opening of classes.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/19/be-honest-teachers-hit-deped-for-all-systems-go-school-opening-remark/
These include a shortage in facilities such as classrooms, learning materials, hand washing facilities, and chairs --- among others. The groups also lamented that teachers have been overworked due to a lack of enough manpower in schools.
When it comes to such gaps in other resources, DepEd said that the regional directors have conducted a mapping and so far, schools have “enough” for their learners when the new school year opens.
As of September 2021, there are over 876,000 public school teachers nationwide.
Of this number, 514,099 are elementary school teachers; 288,687 teach Junior High School and 74,056 are Senior High School teachers.
Poa said that DepEd is recognizing the concerns of teachers which is why it is also finding ways to lessen their workload by reducing the administrative tasks and paperwork, whenever possible.
“We are exploring non-financial benefits for teachers... health insurance is also something that we are looking into,” he added.
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First week of classes
Recognizing that there might be some challenges in bringing back children to school after two years, Poa explained that the first few weeks of classes will focus on the mental wellness and well-being of learners.
“We’re preparing not only our infrastructure but also the mental wellness of our learners and teachers,” Poa said.
Schools, he added, have been instructed to conduct psychosocial support activities in the first week of classes.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/18/first-week-of-classes-to-focus-on-psychosocial-support-activities-deped/
Ensuring safety of learners, teachers
To help ensure that students and teachers are safe during face-to-face classes amid a pandemic, Poa said that DepEd will be focusing on two aspects: vaccination drive and preparations of schools.
“The first aspect focuses on the vaccination drive,” Poa said. Currently, DepEd is coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) to roll out a counseling session as a mobile vaccination drive for the unvaccinated.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/01/vp-sara-to-unvaxxed-deped-personnel-consider-reconsider-your-decision/
Poa explained that the second aspect highlights the preparations of schools. “Our focus is to make sure that our schools are clean,” he said.
“We will be strictly enforcing our minimum health and safety standards - students need to wear face masks, alcohol, wash facilities --- and as much as possible, we observe physical distancing,” he added.
Aside from the minimum health standards required, Poa said that DepEd also directed schools to have an infection control plan or infection containment strategy which will outline the protocols in place should there be a Covid-19 outbreak.
Meanwhile, DepEd is appealing to parents and guardians as well as to other education stakeholders to help ensure the safe reopening of classes this SY.
“The opening of classes will not be without challenges, that pretty much is obvious but if we can help each other, we can ensure the safe return of our learners to schools,” Poa ended.