WHILE refusing to claim “perfection” when it comes to their readiness for the October 5 opening of the Pandemic-era schoolyear, the Department of Education (DepEd) nonetheless noted with pride how the unprecedented challenges of the past six months have forced the “overhaul” of the entire educational system.
Responding to a question by BusinessMirror at DepEd’s online press briefing on Monday, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones expressed optimism the agency can respond to whatever challenges crop up on October 5, while noting all the things they have overcome in preparing stakeholders for the so-called “blended learning” to avoid in-person classes and curb Covid-19.
“So by October 5, there might be other challenges which will emerge and this may be responded to [because we already know the] possible complications pero [but] we will not, of course, claim perfection because there is no such thing. By October 5, there will also be additional complications, there will be changes in the weather or there will be change, risk assessments etc. We will respond to this,” Briones said.
The secretary said she is proud of DepEd’s progress in less than six months, where “you overhaul practically the entire educational system, change the curriculum, change the methods of education, of learning delivery in a matter of months.”
Noting the criticisms and cynicism they faced – some quarters were pushing DepEd to abandon blended learning because it is too problematic, and declare an academic freeze – Briones said the fact that the school system and stakeholders were able to “respond positively is already a signal of the capacity of the department and of Philippine society, of parents, of teachers, of all of you, to be able to look and to see what might happen and how we might react to this.”
Briones reiterated they are already anticipating “what these challenges would be” when schools open on October 5 but did not discuss in detail.
“It’s not as if we will be caught by surprise, at the rate [members of the ] media are raising these issues already four months in advance, five months in advance. We have responded and we have prepared. We, [the] public, parents have been raising questions and we have responded and we have recognized this. So, by October 5, as of October 5, we will already be ready but if there are challenges which will emerge — because as all of us know, we move in a political, social, and economic environment as well as a natural environment — which we cannot solve by issuing memoranda, circulars and so on, but we can only think of ways that we can respond,” she further said.
“We will be more prepared by October 5. This is a celebration, a declaration of victory. A declaration of continuity of education, whatever challenges we are facing, education will continue,” she stressed, in a mix of English and Filipino.
Enrollment
Briones, meanwhile, also claimed success in the enrollment in both public and private schools nationwide.
As of September 21, over 24.53 million (or 88.35 percent of the total students’ population in schoolyear 2019-2020) had been able to enrol despite the logistical challenge of mostly online procedures.
For public schools alone, over 22.36 million or 99.06 percent have already registered, prompting Briones to call it “very successful!”
She also expressed optimism that the private school students will catch up. Only 2.12 million or 49.32 percent of last year’s population have enrolled in private schools nationwide, though earlier reports attributed this to the migration from public to private schools as many households faced budget constraints amid the pandemic-induced economic slowdown.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza