“This pandemic has magnified the inequities in our society.”
When schools first suspended classes in March as a precaution against the coronavirus, the automatic perceived solution was to shift to online instruction. Physical distance was the very essence of education, and if this cannot be observed, alternatives had to be on the table – and fast.
The thinking was that today’s students, born and raised in the digital age, are in a better position to cope with technology-based instruction.
That could be true, but just days into the lockdown, there were other issues that reminded us starkly why we cannot embrace online learning as other First-World countries can.
Even as teachers tried their best to use an online platform to deliver their lectures, assign classwork and encourage participation among students, the biggest barrier was the gross inequality in terms of access to computer tools and the Internet.
Even private schools in Metro Manila learned that while some students could easily go on the learning platforms through their personal computers at home, others could not. Many have no such computer tools at home and relied merely on visits to Internet cafes as the need arose. The lockdown, however, has closed such shops – with the communal nature of the rented computers, it would be a breeding ground for the virus.
For millions of students more, a trip to the computer shop would already be a luxury. Prior to the pandemic, poverty made them unable to regularly attend their classes, much less make use of technology tools to complete their academic requirements.
In the end, many schools decided to end this semester, passing all students regardless of how they had been faring before the lockdown. Some argue that this similar-outcome approach could be unfair to those who were working hard – they would end up with the same status as those who were not as diligent – many believe that in these extraordinary times, being overly conscious about grades is hardly a virtue.
This pandemic has magnified the inequities in our society. Practicing shelter-in-place carries different meanings for different people. Affluent families can stay in their homes all day, watching their favorite shows on streaming services, and ordering whatever food they crave at the moment. Their breadwinners can continue earning money while working from the safety and comfort of their home offices.
But this privilege is reserved for the minority. Poor families find themselves cramped in small spaces, made worse by the oppressive summer heat. Many have lost earning capacities and rely only on government aid. Students from these families cannot be expected to learn well and comply with their teachers’ requirements – assuming the teachers themselves can afford to take advantage of the benefits of online instruction.
The Education Secretary said classes for the next school year will begin in August – in what exact form, nobody can tell at this point. We wonder whether the difficulties encountered since March will be less pronounced in August, or whether they would have been exacerbated by the prolonged quarantine.
A nation is not truly resilient if one segment of the population is able to cope better with disruptions, while other segments fall apart. This is all the more true in education, since its benefits will not manifest until the future. Children who have to surmount numerous barriers just to learn should be the priority. The abolition of those barriers in the first place rests solely on the government.
May this thought guide our leaders as we build back after this health crisis.