Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme

A Research Proposal Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements in

Research Methodology (MAED 402)

JAYSON A. MAGNAYE
Master of Arts in Education major in Educational Management

DR. NELIA PELIPADA

Subject Professor

SY 2020-2021

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme
 Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista District I- Division of
Quezon: Basis for An Intervention Scheme

I. Introduction

One of the most recent public health emergencies of global concern is the recent COVID-19
pandemic, which started in China and almost infected every country in the whole world. This
disease is caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, previously known as 2019-nCoV) and
has received global attention from growing infections and on how to eradicate the disease and
flatten the curve of infections (Guo et al., 2020).

The outbreak of COVID-19 according to (Onyema et al., 2020) affected all aspects of human
activities globally ranging from education, research, sports, entertainment, transportation,
worship, social gathering/interactions, economy, businesses, and politics. Indeed, the entire
world was in distress as a result of COVID-19 threats, the reality of the situation was challenging
to bear, and the education sector remains one of the worst-hit by Coronavirus outbreak
(Onyema et al., 2020). They also added that COVID-19 has major effects on school
characteristics, including research, academic programs, Staff professional development and
jobs in the academic sector etc. These effects were felt by both educational institutions,
educators, students and parents and other stakeholders in education.

Furthermore, In the United States, many schools were closed down, and scheduled tests and
examinations were also cancelled. The report shows that some of the schools closed down for
Coronavirus in the U.S might not resume back for the rest of the academic year (Madeline,
2020). In Spain, about 11 million students were affected by school closures for mitigation of the
spread of Coronavirus. Regional governments in the country closed down schools in response
to the increased cases of Coronavirus in the country. The closure of schools in Spain
particularly in Madrid led to the suspension of job contracts for people who work at school
cafeterias and in special education (El Pais, 2020). In Australia, (Michael,2020) reported that
dozens of independent schools were shutdown at New South Wales while some moved to

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme
online classes. Students learn from home, while some schools were opened but implemented
strong measures to ensure social distancing strategy.

In the Philippines, around 800 private schools were closed this year due to low enrollment
turnout and lack of requirements of learning management systems for the conduct of distance
learning (DepEd, 2020). Data from the DepEd shows that as of July 29, 22.2 million students
had enrolled in public and private schools nationwide for the school year. The number included
20.85 million students in public schools and 1.35 million in private schools. The student
enrollment number covers Kindergarten to Grade 12, including Alternative Learning System or
ALS, and non-graded learners with disabilities. Last school year, there were 22.5 million
enrollees in public schools and 4.2 million students in private schools. The enrollment drop was
very pronounced in the private schools; the government estimated that only 31 percent of
private-school students had returned.

In response to the declaration of public health emergency, the Department of Education

(DepEd) has implemented the Learning Continuity Plan (LCP), which is in effect from School
Year 2020-2021- transitioning to a blended learning approach amid the ongoing health crisis.
Accordingly, schools crafted their Learning Continuity Plan (LCP) which should align to the
Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) of the central office, and to the respective
LCPs of regional and schools division offices. To continuously improve the plan, the DepEd-
Division of Quezon initiated a dry run and submitted an accomplishment report in pursuant to
division memorandum no. 177, s. 2020.

In line with this, this study will be conducted to identify the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on
education in Buenavista Central Elementary School. The results of this study are expected to be
a basis in creating intervention scheme. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:
(1) What is the school profile before and during pandemic in terms of: (a) number of teachers,
(b) number of students, and (c) number of personnel? (2) What are the effects of COVID-19
pandemic in terms (a) research, (b) academic programs (c) Staff professional development, and
(d) jobs in the academic sector. (3) What are the interventions undertaken regarding the issues
and concerns in the first quarter of school year?

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme
 II. Background of the Study

Having emerged in December 2019, the coronavirus/COVID-19 has now spread all over the
globe affecting almost all countries and territories around the world (WHO, 2020). Following the
global outbreak of the pandemic, countries announced the public to take responsive care. The
public care strategies include hand-washing, wearing facemasks, getting distant from someone
coughing or sneezing, and avoiding mass assemblies. Various media have also been used to
disseminate information about the hazard of Corona attack. Lockdown and staying home
strategies have also been unconditional actions taken to reduce and control the spread of
corona attack.

Educational undertakings are social which take shape in terms of individual- social interplays.
Rieley (2020) considers the social situation in schools to be scaring to educational institutions
for the fact that, most educational organizations are now scrambling to identify the options they
have in front of them to deal with two major challenges pertaining with detaining or stopping
social contacts and keeping learning going. Under the pressure of corona, COVID-19, society
members may hesitate to send their children to schools for fear that, they may contract the
infection through as a result of contacts in classrooms or out-of-school. From the very outset,
the spread of the pandemic has been noticed to be based on contact-effects.

The disruption caused by COVID-19 in the educational sector may last longer than expected if a
more reliable solution for coronavirus is not found on time, and the spread of the disease
continues. UNESCO Director-General, Andrey Azoulayals cited by VOA News (2020), warned
that “the global scale and speed of the educational disruption due to coronavirus is unparalleled
and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education”. No doubts, unplanned school closures
can cause severe problems for students, educators, parents and the society at large. It could
negatively affect the academic interest and performance of students. If the students are not
engaged productively, it could lead to idleness which might result in youth involvement in
crimes, loss of interest in learning, and poor academic performance. The US Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control (CDC) also expressed concerns about the implications of school
closures. According to the CDC, “longer closures may result in more students congregating
outside of schools.

Moreover, educational institutions that have inculcated the use of emerging technologies in their
systems before the outbreak of COVID-19 had a comparative advantage over those who were
yet to embrace technology in their operations. Teachers were required to teach remotely and

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme
students needed adjustments to the new teaching and learning techniques (Onyema et al.,
2020). In addition, Will (2020) described the challenges that teachers experience once
instruction turns to the digital world. He expounded that some teachers needed to go to empty
parking lots of the school to access more reliable Internet connectivity. Internet connectivity in
the Philippines is analogous to the hardships that the teachers’ experience as stated by the
author. Hence, the full transition to the digital world will be challenging for the instructors
(Gonzales, 2020). Aside from that, the Philippine K-12 Curriculum needs to have reevaluation
and re-alignment as to what the new normal expects. Thus, assessments and grading might
change as well. In accordance with these, the DepEd calls for the simplification of the
curriculum focusing only on the most essential (Rita, 2020). In addition, extra-curricular
activities in school such as scouting, proms, sports intramurals, contests and foundation day will
be reduced and discontinued (Onyema et al., 2020).

The sudden metamorphosis of teaching activity from the face-to-face model to the online
modality reveals the existence of three gaps (Diaz, et al.,2020): the access gap (having or not
having access to connection and technological devices); the use gap (time of use and its
quality); and the gap in teacher skills, availability of resources, and adaptation of online
platforms to support teaching). This digital gap makes the distances between families with more
and less resources ever greater, as is occurring during the period of confinement (Hodges, et
al.,2020).

Furthermore, along with the current spread of COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing and
face masks wearing to public and private schools are compulsory once classes are resumed or
started. Governments around the world have issued policies and guidelines to implement
physical distancing in order to flatten the pandemic curve (Greenstone & Nigam, 2020;
Thunstrom et al., 2020). In addition, wearing of face masks or even personal protective
equipment (PPE) as a public health intervention would probably intercept the transmission link
and prevent communicable diseases (Huang, 2020). Thus, students, faculty members and non-
teaching staff should be required to wear face masks and maintain physical distancing with
each other when going to schools.

Hence, according to Karalis (2020), what is worth studying after returning to normality, are the
implications that have arisen for the day after, that is, what adjustments need to be made, the
extent of the situation and to define the basic dimensions of education and learning in formal
education systems and organizations amid educational disruptions.

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme
 III. Statement of the Problem

The study, Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista District I- Division of

Quezon: Basis for An Intervention Scheme, aims to identify the effects of COVID-19 pandemic
in education sector of Buenavista Central Elementary School. Specifically, it seeks to answer
the following questions:

1. What is the school profile before and during pandemic in terms of: (a) number of teachers,
(b) number of students, and (c) number of personnel?

2. What are the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in terms of (a) research, (b) academic programs
(c) Staff professional development, and (d) jobs in the academic sector?

3. What are the interventions undertaken regarding the issues and concerns in the first quarter
of school year?

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Buenavista Central Elementary School:

Basis for An Intervention Scheme