DepEd-6 chief: First day of classes was ‘okay’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

“Okay” was how Department of Education-Region 6 (DepEd-6) Director Gemma Ledesma on Tuesday described the first day of School Year 2020-2021 for kindergarten pupils to senior high school students on Oct. 5, 2020.

This school year is different from any other school year not only because it started in October, but also because learners are not in their classrooms to attend face-to-face lectures.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones originally announced August 24 as the opening for the new school year.

The DepEd however moved it to Oct 5 to allow more time for their preparations.

The DepEd has adjusted to new modes of distance learning from the learners’ homes, as the Philippines continues to grapple with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The available modes range from online platforms through DepEd Commons, to other services such as Zoom, Google Meet, and others, to broadcast content via partnerships that the department has made with radio companies across the country.

The radio broadcasts of the DepEd are delivered in four languages – Aklanon, Karay-a, Hiligaynon, and Cebuanong Bisaya.

Most learners in Western Visayas, around 85 to 90 percent according to Ledesma, have opted to use modular learning.

In modular learning, packets with modules and activity sheets will be sent to students on or before Monday and will be retrieved by the school through the teachers at the end of the week.

Modules for learners in Kindergarten to Grade 3 in Western Visayas are also available in Aklanon, Karay-a, Hiligaynon, and Cebuanong Bisaya languages.

These “contextualized mother tongue” radio broadcasts and modules are provided depending on the location of the learner and their respective school.

Ledesma on Tuesday told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo that modules had been delivered to parents and learners even before Monday.

She added that teachers are also already preparing for the delivery of modules for the next weeks.

“So far, for the schools we’ve reached, the teachers have distributed the modules for this week at an early time, and the parents have also picked up early. They are continuing to prepare for the succeeding weeks. Of course, this is for a whole year, so we are not stopping our work,” Ledesma said.

The director said she was “happy” with the “okay” opening of classes, which coincided with the World Teachers’ Day celebration.

“I am very happy, along with the celebration of World Teachers’ Day yesterday. The attitude yesterday was well, we started to celebrate World Teachers’ Day, we had a flag-raising ceremony, and everybody was prepared and participated in the activities. The children are also starting their studies. It was okay yesterday,” she said.

Ledesma said DepEd-6 officials went around the region to monitor the first day of classes and they noted how parents were able to encourage their children to study on their own.

“We went around yesterday, until today we are going around, and we are monitoring. This is a new system of conducting classes, so we are looking at the preparations, the effects, and how we can improve our delivery of education to the learners. Yesterday, as we passed by houses, we can see the learners reading their modules. We thank our parents who encouraged their children to study their lessons,” she said.

She further added that the DepEd-6 is continuously monitoring the first week of classes, and that the effects will start to reflect when they retrieve the first set of modules on Friday.

“Our Division Offices have division field assistance technical teams and monitoring teams. Our district supervisors are also checking our schools. All of these were possible because of those who have helped us, from the local government officials, to the partners, the donors who gave papers, ink, and partner radio stations which have aired radio episodes and TV episodes. By Friday, we will be retrieving and we will see how effective our methods in delivering education to children have been,” she said.

Ledesma said she understood the concerns regarding distribution of modules, which is why the DepEd has actively sought the partnership with local government units (LGUs).

“Actually, the distribution of modules [is a concern], but we are looking for ways on how to solve the problem of distributing to far-flung areas. We have partner LGUs, officials down to the barangays, with the barangay captains and barangay councilmen who have been helping us. Barangay halls and other places of convergence that have been made into distribution centers [for modules],” Ledesma said.

She explained that schools have the discretion as to when to start distribution of the learning modules through the teachers.

“We are not prescribing [a certain day]. We give the schools leeway as to their assessment when would be the most convenient time to distribute modules, because it would really depend on the situation. What we ensure is that for that week, the modules are available, because we are also giving enough time for the students to answer their modules. It really depends, and these are taken up at the school level,” Ledesma clarified.

Despite the progress they have made to open the school year on Monday, Ledesma said they are still in need of basic materials such as bond papers, and other equipment such as speakers with Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports to record audio materials.

“We have partners, donors who can adopt the schools. [The schools still] need bond paper and speakers with USB, so we can record the radio-based instruction for those learners who cannot receive radio frequencies in their areas. The [flash drives] are being donated [by partners] or being bought [by schools], depending on the situation of the schools themselves,”

She also encouraged more donations, which may be directly given to the schools themselves.

“We welcome new ideas and help. They can go directly to the school of their choice. The school will document it properly, and we will be monitoring the documentation of these donations, with the names of donors, because we will also recognize them,” she said.