The battlecry was for education to continue – but at what cost are we willing to spend. The continuous restraint of the pandemic has caused education to adjust itself which caused an uproar from the Filipinos – the situation has made the prerequisites from pen and paper to gadgets and internet connectivity for one to have smooth access to education. Higher demands have caused some to not engage in education proven by lower enrollment rates even with the various efforts of universities to incline their service to their enrollees despite their situations. These scenarios make Filipinos demand for plans that makes education inclusive like it was before – this is not the readiness that we expected that DepEd boasts, and CHED trusts in universities to not require them to move the academic year.
During these times where resources should be crucially spent for survival, we set the standard of a successful educational system when many are able to participate in it and provide effective education while promoting distancing protocols. Most expect that classes under distance learning should mimic the classroom setting as much as possible – academes promoting distance learning must focus on adapting the ways they used to do before the pandemic, to the circumstances of both the educator and the student, especially during these difficult times. Preparing institutions for this requires changes not only on how to teach using Zoom meetings, but it should also focus on finding alternatives to achieve the same learning outcomes. These two are crucial especially when we talk about educating college students – what they learn greatly affects their performance for their future. Let us refrain from using first-time implementation in making mistakes – we should mitigate errors as much as possible. Institutions can keep convincing themselves for being ready – bigger ones convince themselves better. The thing is, if we insist on continuing this academic year, then Filipino students must enjoy an education worth continuing.
It is high time that we realize that what we’re supposed to cover during these dark times are our noses and mouths, not the lack of preparation for this pandemic. The longer we expose aspiring students to an education system that is lackluster, then we just make students participate for compliance – not your ideal education.
That being said, let us embrace the new system of academics, and hope that it doesn’t become the new pandemic.
