Flexibility in education

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

There are oppositions to the proposal to cancel the coming school for a year or until a cure for the pandemic is found. The opposition reminds the proponents that there are other means of education than the face to face, classroom method.

Bacolod jumped into the train to praise President Duterte’s musing about the “until a cure is found” idea interpreting it as a foregone decision.

Well the President, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque is against a face to face system of classroom teaching but there are other means or methods of teaching without the students gathered inside a classroom.

The schools had been using the new system of home learning and to some degree this has been successful. It saves a lot of time and space without losing the subjects that are to be studied. Home study has been utilized for several years in advanced countries; we are just starting to adopt it.

As the Federation of Associations of Private School Administrators President Eleazardo Kasilag was quoted in yesterday’s column, the FAPSA has already started preparation for online distance education. This means the private schools have anticipated situations of this kind or for the time that schooling need not mean going to the school building and meeting the teacher and the classmates.

Of course, there are negative implications to the full use of distance learning because young people need to learn and experience personal relationships with peers and develop a mature way of dealing with others. A holistic education is vital for personal and professional growth.

However, in a situation that we have when direct personal contact can do harm, then distant learning is a safe and should be an alternative method of teaching.

The history of education tells us that the young were not always gathered in classrooms and controlled by schedules and routine. On the other hand, the young congregated around a teacher and in an informal way learned skills and imbibed knowledge in an impromptu situation. They exchanged ideas anywhere they went.

It was only when universal education was adopted by the government that classrooms became necessary and teaching became a profession. This is the reason that even wars did not interrupt education; on the contrary wars became opportunities to learn from life’s experiences.

When World War II broke out, classes in the Philippines were suspended from December 1941 until June 1945 and resumed right after the Japanese occupation ended. The disruption of four years flooded the first grade in 1945 but to solve the problem, children older than being in grade one, were promoted or accelerated to higher grade depending upon their capability to learn.

When the cholera epidemic struck the Philippines from 1902 to 1903, classes were also canceled, and the acceleration method was likewise adopted.

We can do the same in case one or two school years are lost but with the new technology that need not happen. Distant learning can be implemented. The best is with the internet but there are hundreds of schools in this country that do not have this facility. On the other hand, there is always a television set in most households or if none there is always a radio.

Of course, the internet is the best venue; the radio is the least effective but also the least expensive and widespread thus it has also an edge over the others.

Our educational experts face a challenge on this score. However, we know they are not starting from zero because even a few years back some colleges and universities had already experimented and had succeeded in this method of teaching and learning.

Most distant learning uses the internet which is clearly a better option than television and radio. The government can help in this regard if it set up free WIFI facilities nationwide or work out for reduced rates.

The school authorities say they are prepared, and we can take their word for that although I think there will still be lot of hitches like a long brownout as we have while I am writing this column.

The experience that our educational system will gain during this period will be a benefit from the pandemic. Educational systems throughout history had always been flexible and that innovative spirit to meet specific situations has enriched methodology.

Let the educators prove their skills using new ways of learning.