Private schools in the Philippines are opposing the idea of an “Academic Freeze” due to COVID-19, it might lead to more school shutdowns.
“Academic Freeze” not an option for private schools
In a press interview, Mr. Joseph Noel Estrada of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations pointed out the negative effect of an “Academic Freeze” when it comes to the survivability of the remaining private schools in the Philippines which are still operating. Just last week, the Department of Education had a rough estimate of not less than 400 private schools in the Philippines are bound for shutdown due to the pandemic. With more students shifting into Public school education, private schools are in a race to rack up enrollees in order to sustain operations.
If an “Academic Freeze” pushes through, more private schools might end up closed and out of commission. In addition, Estrada also pointed out that further extending the delay in the resumption of classes, the harder it will be for students to catch up.
The problem will be there knowledge retention, says Estrada. The early cancellation of classes on all levels have resulted into poor retention in most of their current lessons for the past school year.
The problems concerning online learning in Public schools should be addressed by the Department of Education and the government. For the private schools in the Philippines, they did their best to comply with the guidelines provided by the government to resume their classes. Holding them accountable for the lack of preparations for online learning in public schools, seem to be unfair on their part.
The private school sector won’t be able to sustain operations if in case an “Academic Freeze” is to be pushed by the DepEd.
