Looming education crisis

By Artchil B. Fernandez

“Mga bata ‘wag muna. ‘Yang opening ng classes, that’s a, I will not allow na magdikit-dikit ‘yang mga bata. Bahala na hindi maka tapos. (Children, not yet – the opening of classes. I will not allow the opening of classes if children will be crowded together in the classroom).”

“For this generation wala nang makatapos na doktor, pati engineer, kasi hindi na, wala mag aral. Laro na lang. Unless I am sure that they are safe. It’s useless to be talking about the opening of classes. Para sa akin, bakuna muna, okay na. (For me vaccine first, if it’s available, it’s ok.) Remember that.”

These are the shocking pronouncements of Du30 last Monday in his morning talk show. Aside from brushing aside allegations of corruption in the procurement of equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Du30’s policy on education is another indication of the disarray in his administration. It is also a further confirmation that he has no plan on how to deal with the situation in the post-lockdown scenario.

Education is among the hardest hit sectors of society by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were caught flat-footed when the pandemic hit the country. Classes were suspended and have not resumed. At that time of the suspension, schools that started their classes in June are about the close the school year. Those that opened the school year in August are only in the middle of the second semester.

Millions of students are affected by the suspension of classes. The Class of 2020 is deprived of an important milestone – graduation. School administrators on the other hand scrambled to make sense of the situation. They are completely unprepared for the cataclysmic event and are hard-pressed on how deal with it.

Initial response of schools to the pandemic is to shift to online classes with classroom classes no longer feasible. Ordering a shift to online instruction is easier said than done. To the consternation and shock of schools, online classes are not possible in mass and can be done in a very limited way. Even the University of the Philippines that immediately ordered an online shift aborted the move after reality reveals it is not viable.

While online class is an alternative to classroom class, Philippines is not ready for it. Not all students have computers and access to internet which are basic requirements. With the vast majority of students do not have the means to do online classes, this option is not realistic. The digital infrastructure is another problem of online classes. Internet connection is not universal and Philippines is among the countries in the world with the worst internet service. Given these limitations, it is folly to do online classes

Closing school year 2019-2020 is only the beginning of the woes of schools. School year 2020-2021 is a big headache to school administrators, especially in private schools. Physical distancing is the new norm as COVID-19 ravages the world. Schools are among the most crowded places and observing physical distancing will cripple private schools and will likely lead to the demise of most of them.

Unlike public schools where salary of school personnel is part of government budget, private schools rely on the tuition and school fess of their students for their operation. Aside from facing a reduced enrollment due the pandemic (many students may not enroll due to health concern and financial difficulties) reducing class size (number of students) is financially disastrous to private schools. Small class means opening more sections resulting to higher expenses. Teachers are paid by teaching load or the number of sections they handle. More sections mean higher payment.

In the pre-COVID-19 era, packing a section with students, usually 50 or more is one way private schools save money on salary and earn more. With physical distancing, they have to either limit the number of students per class or build bigger classrooms (a huge investment) to maintain their usual practice of overcrowding a class. For many private schools this is an agonizing if not a terrifying prospect. But this is not the existential question private schools are facing at the moment. What Du30 said is.

If Du30 is serious with his statement, this will wipe out most if not almost all private schools in the country. Suspending classes until a vaccine for COVID-19 is found is a death sentence to private schools. Not only nearly all of them will be extinct, 77,000 teachers in private schools will be rendered jobless. This number does not include the non-teaching personnel. These people have families. To say that the impact of the closure of almost all private schools in the country is catastrophic is an understatement.

Should Du30 suspend classes until a vaccine is found, this implies schools will be closed for undetermined years. It is projected that COVID-19 vaccine will be available at the very least a year and half or two years from now. Some experts say it may take as long as three years or more for a vaccine to be developed.

Du30’s stunning declaration of suspending classes indefinitely is evidence he say things without thinking or make policy out of thin air. He torpedoed and sabotaged the work of the Department of Education and placed DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones in an awkward situation. DepEd already declared classes will open on August 24, 2020. Preparations are underway for the opening of classes. Then Du30 dropped the bomb.

Given Du30’s incoherence and incompetence, his administration will likely back track or modify his statement. His officials might resort to the usual excuse, Du30 is only joking. Serious or joking, Du30’s behavior as leader of a country struggling against COVID-19 pandemic is scary. This indicates the leadership of the nation is not prepared, has no capability or plainly inept to handle the pandemic. Being led by a nincompoop administration amid a plague is most frightening to Filipinos in this dark time.