The School Year (SY) 2023-2024 will officially commence in public schools on Tuesday, Aug. 29, as announced by the Department of Education (DepEd).
This marks the first time, since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, that public schools nationwide will conduct full face-to-face sessions on the first day of classes.
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https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/21/ph-schools-to-open-sy-2022-2023-with-face-to-face-classes/
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is scheduled to visit Kaluangan 1 Primary School in Asturias, Cebu, on the first day of classes.
The DepEd Chief is also slated to visit Melecio Tito Elementary School in Danao City, Cebu, as part of the National School Opening Day Program (NSODP) for SY 2023-2024.
Enrollment data
Over 22.6 million learners from public and private schools have enrolled for the upcoming school year, according to data released by DepEd on Monday, Aug. 28.
Citing the latest data from the Learner Information System (LIS) Quick Count for the incoming SY, the total number of registered students has reached 22,676,964.
The enrollees are from public and private schools, including State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs) offering basic education programs.
Data from the LIS Quick Count reveals that Region IV-A has the highest number of enrollees with 3,465,598. This is followed by Region III with 2,586,926 and the National Capital Region (NCR) with 2,480,970.
Although the enrollment period officially ended on Aug. 26, DepEd stated that late enrollees will still be accommodated in public schools.
“We are accepting late enrollees since it's usual for many to enroll on the first day of classes and the days after,” DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa told reporters in a Viber message.
First day of classes
As part of the preparations for school opening, DepEd encouraged teachers to ensure that the first day of classes would be “delightful” for the learners.
“Gawing very delightful ang ating first day dahil ito ang pinaka-importanteng day of the school year (Make our first day very delightful because it is the most important day of the school year),” DepEd Assistant Secretary and Deputy Spokesperson Francis Cesar Bringas told teachers during a DZBB interview on Aug. 24.
However, this directive might be a little challenging as DepEd also ordered the removal of “unnecessary” decorations inside the classrooms, including decorations and visual aids, among others.
During this SY’s “Brigada Eskwela,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte ordered schools to “maintain cleanliness” by taking down decorations on the walls that may “distract” the students.
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DepEd instructed schools to ensure that their grounds, classrooms, and all their walls and other school facilities are “clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulins, and posters at all times.”
Schools were also asked to take down “oversized signages with commercial advertisements, words of sponsorships and/or endorsements, or announcements of any kind or nature.”
DepEd local officials, including public elementary and secondary school heads, were also directed to ensure that “classroom walls shall remain bare and devoid of posters, decorations, or other posted materials” and that they should not be used to “stockpile materials and should be clear of other unused items or items for disposal.”
In a statement read by Poa during a radio interview on Aug. 21, Duterte maintained that the “order is what it is” and that it's for teachers “to take out everything on the wall [to] let learners focus on their studies.”
Duterte’s directive is for classrooms and rooms to be “clean and functional” — noting that presidents and heroes of the past and present “will not be bothered if learners focus on their teachers, lessons, projects, and assignments.”
Amid criticisms, Bringas defended DepEd’s “bare walls” directive.
“The department believes that students can focus more on the lessons at hand if there are fewer distractions inside the classrooms,” Bringas said in the same radio interview.
Bringas pointed out that normally, distractions come in the form of “too many posters that are posted on the walls.”
He added that the directive of the DepEd Secretary is to “make our walls clean so that our students can focus on their lessons and tasks, and they can also focus on the teachers who are facilitators of learning inside the classroom.”
Among those that should be removed from classroom walls, Bringas said, are visual aids. “But during the time of instruction, the teachers will bring these out as instructional visual aids to aid in the instruction,” he explained.
On the first day of classes and throughout the school year, Bringas said schools must ensure that the movement of children inside the classrooms should be “spacious and well-organized.”
Possible suspension of classes in disaster-affected areas
While public schools nationwide prepare for the first day of face-to-face classes for the upcoming SY, students in some schools may not be able to attend in-person classes yet.
Based on the forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), “higher wind signals” may still be raised over parts of Luzon before Typhoon Goring (international name: Saola) exits the country on Aug. 31.
While “Goring” weakened further, PAGASA said another cyclone is expected to enter the country's area of responsibility by midweek.
The new cyclone, with the international name “Haikui,” has also developed into a tropical storm and may enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) between Aug. 30 and 31.
The weather disturbances, PAGASA said, also enhance the southwest monsoon (habagat) which may bring rain to Metro Manila and other parts of the country.
DepEd Order No. 37 series of 2022 states that classes and work in schools are "canceled or suspended" during a typhoon, heavy rainfall, flood, earthquake, and power outages/power interruptions/brownouts.
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During a typhoon, DepEd said that in-person, online classes, and work from Kindergarten to Grades 12 and Alternative Learning System (ALS) in all levels are “automatically canceled” in schools situated in Local Government Units (LGUs) issued with Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals (TCWS) 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 by PAGASA.
Moreover, DepEd said that in-person, online classes, and work at all levels are also automatically canceled in schools situated in LGUs issued with Orange and Red Rainfall Warnings by PAGASA.
In-person and online classes, DepEd said, are likewise automatically canceled in schools in specific areas issued with a Flood Warning by PAGASA, during an earthquake, and when there are power outages/power interruptions/brownouts.
“School officials can cancel or suspend classes at their own discretion,” DepEd said.
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In areas where school infrastructure was damaged by recent calamities, DepEd said that classes for the upcoming school year may still commence since there are interventions in place such as the establishment of Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) and the adoption of distance learning and other Alternative Delivery Modes (ADMs).
As of Aug. 14, DepEd reported 479 schools damaged by tropical cyclones Egay and Falcon. The budget needed to repair and reconstruct these schools was estimated at P1.77 billion.
Persisting resource shortages
Similar to previous years, public schools are expected to face shortages in basic education resources.
The lack of sufficient classrooms, teachers, learning materials, chairs, and tables, as well as hygiene facilities — especially in schools with very high enrollment — has been plaguing the country’s basic education system for years.
During a meeting with the Senate Committee on Basic Education on Aug. 23, DepEd disclosed that there is a shortage of classrooms in public schools, with the deficit reaching 159,000.
Bringas noted that these problems continue to persist for this school year, as the backlog from the previous years remains unaddressed.
Regarding classrooms and teachers, for instance, Bringas mentioned that the “ideals” are becoming close to impossible to achieve due to the accumulated backlog from past years.
Furthermore, emerging needs contribute to the growing backlog in basic education resources.
In a mix of English and Filipino, Bringas explained that the accumulated backlog over the years is “due to the fact that we haven't been able to address all the shortages or gaps” in terms of classrooms and teachers each year.
“We only have a limited number of classrooms built every year,” Bringas said. The backlog, he added, is further exacerbated by the increasing enrollment annually.
The “emerging needs,” he added, also contribute to the increase in shortages in basic education resources, particularly classrooms and teachers.
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With a shortage in basic education resources remaining unsolved, schools have been implementing various strategies to accommodate all students who enroll in public schools.
One of the widely adopted strategies in schools is the implementation of shifting schedules, where students attend classes for a shorter period so others can also attend.
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In highly urbanized areas with high congestion in enrollment, Bringas said that schools need to adopt double and triple shifts to address the shortage of classrooms.
However, he noted that such intervention may affect the learning outcomes of students since they have to attend shorter class hours.
‘Long-term’ solution
During the launch of the Basic Education Report (BER) in January this year, DepEd identified the problems the country’s basic education sector faces and outlined plans on how to address them.
Among the solutions being considered by DepEd is the institutionalization of technology-based learning or digital learning.
“Hindi na lang tayo dapat sa traditional learning kundi mag-advance or mag-explore din tayo into digital learning in which hindi na kailangan nasa loob ng paaralan yung mga bata (We should not only stick to traditional learning but also advance or explore digital learning, in which students don't necessarily need to be physically present inside the school),” Bringas said.
With this approach, DepEd says that students do not necessarily need to be physically present inside the school.
“Instead, we can redesign what learning spaces are. This way, even if we are unable to address the classroom shortage in the next few years, we will still have alternatives to effectively conduct our classes,” Bringas added.
The institutionalization of blended learning is part of the two-track approach eyed by DepEd to address challenges in basic education, especially shortages in resources.
After President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, Poa explained that DepEd will pursue a “two-track approach” to address the challenges in basic education.
“We all understand that there are challenges in basic education and we need to address them sooner rather than later,” Poa said.
Poa, in many other instances, also explained that DepEd will still use “traditional” solutions to perennial problems such as shortages in classrooms and teachers by building resilient classrooms and hiring teachers, among other actions.
However, as catching up with these “perennial problems” would be challenging, Poa said that DepEd would use another approach: leveraging technology.
“We need to use what we have learned during the pandemic to address the issues of basic education,” Poa said. “We believe that institutionalizing blended learning is a more effective way to quickly decongest our schools,” he added.
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