Although records from the Department of Education showed that there are more than 23 million enrollees, senators urged for the postponement of classes set on August 24 especially in areas under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine.
During yesterday's Senate hearing on basic education, committee chairperson Senator Win Gatchalian and Senators Nancy Binay and Francis Tolentino opposed the opening of classes in the last week of August.
The three cited the risks teachers and parents have to face in delivering self-learning modules of students.
They said that a new law, Republic Act No. 11480, which provides that the date of school opening may be adjusted. DepEd, however, has only 168 hours to craft the implementing rules and regulations of the law in order to fully carry it out.
Gatchalian said DepEd has no clear plans on how to ensure the safety of their teachers and they, or even non-teaching personnel cannot be forced to deliver the modules especially in places where several people were infected.
The senator added that nobody can tell if the situation is improviing or worsening.
"That's why I'm recommending to postpone school opening in case MECQ will be continued in these areas," he said.
Binay also asked DepEd to ascertain how many areas in the country have fully distributed the learning modules.
DepEd officials said there are still a few areas were modules have been distributed at 80-100 percent. They, however, reminded parents that they are not obligatteaed to give donations for the printing of modules.
Tolentino urged DepEd to postpone the scheduled opening of classes this August to October, but instead suggested that the agency ‘regionalize’ the opening of classes, with high-risk areas to start school upon determination of more favorable public health situation.
“Our common and ultimate goal is the protection of our learners. There is no disagreement on that. However, different localities have varying health circumstances, and hence will need varying approaches in the delivery of education. It will be wise perhaps for DepEd to consider opening classes on a per regional health and connectivity situation basis. Not only will students’ health and safety be safeguarded, but as well as the welfare of teachers who will be forced to deliver the modules to students’ homes or at the very least report to school for the distribution of modules to parents. I am asking DepEd to prudently adhere with the provisions of RA 11480,” he said.
Tolentino pointed out that RA 11480, which was signed into law on July 17, allows the President, upon the recommendation of Education Secretary, to set a different date for the start of the school year in the country in the event of a rate of emergency or calamity.
He added that "forcing schools to open this August will only defeat the purpose of education. Let us accept the fact that we are not fully ready, and it will not be wise, to simultaneously open School
Year 2020-2021. Let those areas with low health risk, those that are ready with learning modules, and areas not hampered by quarantine restrictions begin classes using whatever modality is best to ensure public health and safety. Areas with higher health risks should be allowed to start the school year at a later date, as even the parents’ livelihood are also affected. Not only will postponement of school opening favor teachers and learners. The prevailing health, livelihood, and internet connectivity situations should all be considered by DepEd.”
DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malalua has reported that as of August 11, the total number of enrollees from kinder to Grade 12, both in public and private school, reached 23,078,394.
He said that the number of the current enrollees represent 83.1 percent of the total enrollment last year.
The DepEd expects the number of enrollees to further increase in the coming days. Malalua also told Gatchalian's panel that based on their data, 380,000 students from private schools transferred to public schools, adding that there are only 1.56 million students who enrolled in private school compared to 4.3 million enrollees last year.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said the transfer of students to public schools was due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
"We now have what I describe as the phenomenom of private school students migrating to the public schools. This is because the private schools have been affecred by the downturn in the economy. There are parents who lost their jobs and cannot already fund the studies pf the students," she said.
Briones said that 33 percent of public and private schools have received 50 percent of the self- learning modules, even as 61 percent of the schools received less than 50 percent of self learning modules that will be used during the first quarter of the coming school year.
The DepEd estimated that around four million remain uncertain whether they aready for the school opening as the issue on connectivity and access to such other tools for learning have not been settled with barely two weeks to the target date of opening.
As this developed, DepEd TV’s test broadcast TV on Tuesday focused on the technical aspect and the department's capacity to broadcast education episodes for the incoming school year, a DepEd official said on Wednesday.
In a statement, DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua said the test run via IBC-13 on analog and Solar digital concentrated on the recording, file conversion, ingestion, mapping, and actual broadcasting.
This, after netizens posted comments on the Grade 8 English lesson that was broadcast during the first test run of the DepEd TV.
"Tama ang komento ng mamamayan na may mali nga sa accuracy at maging sa (The people's comments are right, that there were errors in the accuracy as well as the) grammar and typography," Pascua said.
The test broadcast, he added, is an opportunity for the department's Quality Assurance Teams to scrutinize the educational episodes, making sure that they are included in the Most Essential Learning Competencies, properly created, and appropriate to its viewers.
The lessons have also been uploaded in the DepEd Commons so learners can double-check them there.
Learners can watch the Kinder to Grade 12 lessons on DepEd TV, heard over the DepEd Radio, and accessed or downloaded from the DepEd Commons starting August 24.
"Asahan po ninyo na patuloy ang pagsasaayos na ginagawa ng DepEd upang maging maayos at handa ang lahat para sa darating na pagbubukas ng klase mapa-online, radyo, TV o modular man (The DepEd will continue
improving and preparing everything for the opening of classes may it be online, radio, TV or modular )," Pascua said. With PNA