The Department of Education in the Philippines has assured students they were coming up with options that would that were helpful when it comes to coping with school lessons.
The decision to ban face to face classes in the Philippines until a coronavirus vaccine or cure is discovered continues to divide people across the country on the best approach to reopen. The Department of Education has already announced that the schools will reopen on August 24th for the 2020/2021 academic year.
Options for coping with school lessons after reopening
An alternative of face to face learning that is accessible to every student in the country has become difficult to come up with. Challenges in getting universal options for students who are coping with school lessons across the country has become a difficult endeavor by the government.
Online learning has become the top alternative for face to face learning. This is due to its ease of access, which can be conducted in real-time and many devices can connect to platforms. However, lack of resources such as devices and internet connectivity, especially for students in rural areas, has made it not effective enough for many students.
The government has now realized that online learning is only one of the options they can utilize to ensure classes continue amid pandemic. Options such as using televisions, transistor radios and printed modules were found to be a good alternative for students who will not be able to afford devices that can be used to access learning materials online.
Importance of the alternatives
An incoming Grade 9 student in Santo Domingo town in Albay committed suicide last Tuesday, after being depressed after failing to afford devices for online learning. The case of grade 9 highlighted the plight many students were going through across the country due to a lack of funds and resources.
The Department of Education sent its condolences and released a statement about the suicide of the Grade 9 child. They assured students that the government was working on options for students to cope with school lessons.
President Duterte had already indicated that the government was moving forward with its plan of buying and distributing transistor radios across the country. This was in a bid to ensure that all students continue learning when schools finally reopen in August.
Featured image by Pixabay
