DepEd bares plans to address learning gaps accumulated during the pandemic

In order to catch up with the loss in education for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Education (DepEd) disclosed on Wednesday, July 27 some of its plans which include class size reduction and the enhancement of some of its programs.

In a press conference, DepEd Spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa first mentioned that each regional office (ROs) and schools division office (SDO) is currently in the process of preparing their respective highly contextualized learning recovery plan.

According to POA, they were designated to submit such a plan for the evaluation of the agency which will be anchored on the Basic Education Development Plan 2030 (BEDP) since it addressed the learning situation during the pandemic.

DepEd is also planning to remove administrative tasks from teachers to help them focus on teaching. Poa added that the agency is also eyeing to upskill and reskill the teachers. To upskill the teachers and upgrade the teaching standards. In line with this, Poa mentioned that DepEd is also looking to strengthen its programs on literacy and numeracy since according to the BEDP there is a huge gap in literacy.

To address gaps in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), DepEd is also seeking to expand the coverage of Regional Science High Schools. To be able to do that, the agency will provide them with a higher budget.

"But when we give them a higher budget sisiguraduhin natin na (we will make sure that) accountability mechanisms and control measures are always in place to balance off the bigger budget," he explained.

DepEd will also try to reduce the class size as much as possible, citing the difficulty to teach learners when there's too many of them in a single classroom.

Regarding this, Poa stated that there is no prescribed minimum for in-person classes. He mentioned that some schools have 60 learners per class and DepEd would like to bring the number down. This issue, Poa said, is mostly prevalent in Metro Manila and Cavite and what they are looking to do is to employ a shifting schedule and if that is not applicable, they may fall under the exceptions of blended learning.

Lastly, Poa said that with its proposed budget it will endeavor to provide schools as well as learners state-of-the-art equipment. DepEd's proposed budget is now around P810 billion.

Meanwhile, on the issue of faulty modules as well as errors in other learning materials, Poa mentioned that they are part of the curriculum review to improve accessibility as well as the quality of education.

In the recent school year, Poa revealed that 76 percent have already resumed in-person classes. He mentioned that with this the upcoming in-person classes is not as "daunting" as it's assumed to be since there is only 20 percent or more that needs to be monitored to see if they can implement it. Classes for SY 2022-2023 will begin on Aug. 22, 2022.