ALEC JIM RAMA

X-AQUARIUS
ACTIVITY 2.4

Because of the pandemic that we are currently facing, face to face classes
have been suspended and us students have no choice but to resort to Online
learning or Modular learning. Online learning refers to education that takes place
over the Internet and Modular learning refers to physical modules distributed and
retrieved weekly. With this type of education, a lot of students are struggling and
just can’t get used to this type of learning. Because of that, a lot of people are
calling for a halt in education or specifically, an Academic Freeze.
Academic Freeze is the movement where all classes are cancelled or
suspended until the vaccine for the Corona Virus is made. People who side with
the Academic Freeze movement are pushing the Government to cancel the
School Year 2020-2021 due to the fact that many students are struggling and
can’t keep up with their studies because of this completely different kind of
education than the education that we are obviously used to. The petition through
the hashtag #AcademicFreezeNOW had been dominating all over social media
with fellow teachers and students expressing their struggles on the
implementation of the new distance or blended learning system and saying stuff
like how they might not be able to keep up with this kind of education system
anymore.
There are a lot of reasons on why a lot of people are ought to suspend the
implementation of classes and want an Academic Freeze. Reasons like: not
every students can afford to buy electronics for online learning/e-learning and
distance education and how distance learning just doesn’t work because online
education and printed learning modules are certainly not on the same category
as traditional classes. Distance education may relay knowledge and processes,
but it cannot develop motor and social skills like when you are in a classroom or
in school. And a lot of people are also saying that it is better to delay student’s
education for a year than putting them at risk of getting the Virus.
But just because the reasons mentioned above have an absolutely good
cause, that doesn’t mean there are no downsides to Academic Freeze. Some
people oppose to academic freeze due to reasons like: a lot of teachers might
lose their jobs if classes are suspended and how a pandemic is not a reason that
anyone should stop learning. Distance learning is the best option to keep
learning while being safe as many have crucially stated.
 After analyzing both sides, my stand about this topic is that we should
definitely continue our education and say no to Academic Freeze. While the
points made on why Academic Freeze should be implemented are certainly good
and valid points, they are still insufficient reasons to why we should stop our
Education. Using the vaccine as the parameter to decide whether to reopen the
classes or not is downright unrealistic. The vaccine might not be available for
now but we shouldn’t stop learning just because of that. So the best approach is
to just to work hard and continue on striving until this Crisis is over and we return
to our traditional system of classes.