The COVID 19 pandemic has disrupted education systems globally, affecting the most

vulnerable learners the hardest. It has increased inequalities and exacerbated a pre -
existing education crisis. Despite the overwhelming consequences of the pandemic, the
Department of Education (DepEd) ensures the continuous delivery of its programs and
services at all levels while ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of all learners,
teaching and non-teaching personnel, and support the overall effort of the Philippine
government to prevent the further transmission of the contagion, while ensuring the
continuous delivery of quality, accessible, relevant, and liberating basic education.
DepEd is also committed and passionate to provide solutions to existing challenges
within its jurisdiction.

Some challenges that DepEd currently dealing with are the issues about Filipino
learners’ reading comprehension. In 2018, Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development that examines students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics, and
science released a result wherein a 15-year-old Filipino students ranked last in reading
comprehension out of 79 countries.They also ranked 78th in science and math. One key
insight from this study is it implies those tested mostly came from public schools.
Hence, the crisis also lies in the fact that a lot of Filipinos can’t read or do simple
math.PISA reiterated that reading proficiency is essential for a wide variety of human
activities - from following instructions in a manual; to finding out the who, what, when,
where, and why of an event; to communicating with others for a specific purpose or
transaction. Likewise, the Philippines also placed the second-lowest in mathematics and
science. This report must be used to improve the present condition of our educational
system. There is a need for critical literacy to address this problem. It must be treated
seriously by our education leaders to prevent further drop in the quality of education in
our country. In the context of Covid-19 pandemic, giving students a solid foundation in
critical literacy is also a challenge. Teachers of reading are having difficulty to cascade
the concept of critical literacy to their students. Teachers’ training should now focus
towards enabling students to visualize, synthesize, and make connections to and
beyond the materials that they are given rather than just plainly gathering details.
Further, PISA report mentioned that expenditure per student in the country is 90 percent
lower than the global average and the ability of each student to learn and comprehend
the materials presented is further hampered by the absence of viable teaching materials
and an environment that is not very conducive to classroom learning. Our leaders must
provide proper investment to education as it will serve as the backbone of our economy
in the future. Providing quality education will help our future generations to be globally
competitive and productive individuals. Continuous strengthening of the literacy and
comprehension programs and review of K-12 curriculum can also help to improve our
current education situation.
DepEd also launch pilot face-to-face classes in selected schools. In light of the
emergence of contagious variants of COVID-19, the Department of Education (DepEd)
postponed the implementation of face-to-face classes in the country. More than a year
since the distance learning modality was implemented, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s
approved the Department’s proposal of the pilot implementation in consideration of
education quality, mental health, and economic issues amidst the pandemic. The
operational guidelines on the pilot implementation of face-to-face learning modality
provide health and safety standards in terms of personal protective equipment,
sanitation, detection and referral, ventilation, contact tracing, and quarantine,
coordination, and contingency measures. From the guidelines, Secretary Briones
explained that class size will be reduced to 12 learners for Kindergarten, 16 learners for
Grades 1 to 3, and 20 learners for technical-vocational students, while class sessions will
only run for a maximum of three hours for Kindergarten to Grade 3 and four hours for
Senior High School. The implementation of Blended Distance Learning has not been
reassuring as certain issues continue to be highlighted, particularly the inequities faced
by marginalized and vulnerable segments of society who have fewer resources to make
full use of alternative modes of learning. Unicef Philippines has also enumerated the
negative effects of school closures among children, such as learning loss, high dropout
rates, and mental health and socio-emotional issues. Another study of World Bank on
the impact of COVID-19 on Philippine households cited by the UN body found that only
20 percent of school-aged children were engaged in learning activities while adhering to
community quarantine guidelines. While the need to resume face-to-face classes is
crucial to the education and well-being of children, the health and safety is as important
and should also be prioritize. Education partners and stakeholders should come
together once again in this endeavor and work in unity to serve the interest of our
Filipino learners.

DepEd K to 12 curriculum review was one of the programs initiated by the Department
of Education (DepEd) to address issues on the quality of education in the country.
DepEd recognizes the need to decongest the current curriculum. The review would
cover the most essential learning competencies included in the curriculum this school
year, which has shifted to distance learning due to the pandemic. The review is being
undertaken to relieve students of overwhelming requirements in all their subjects. Citing
initial results of the K to 12 review, Usec. Diosdado San Antonio, DepEd Undersecretary
for Curriculum and Instruction, said that the curriculum review “has actually showed that
our curriculum standards, performance and context standards are comparable with
those standards of any other country around the world.” Usec. Diosdado San Antonio
further explained that the Intended Curriculum, specifies what students are expected to
learn in school in terms of knowledge, understanding, skills, values, and attitudes to be
acquired and developed ]. It also involves how the outcomes of the teaching and
learning process will be assessed that are embodied in curriculum framework. San
Antonio also noted that the review of the Implemented Curriculum or the “actual
teaching and learning activities taking place in schools through interaction between
learners and teachers as well as among learners” is also a crucial step and is also
ongoing. After the review of Intended and Implemented Curriculum, DepEd will then
continue to review the Attained Curriculum, which specifies the knowledge,
understanding, skills, and attitudes that learners attain as an outcome of teaching and
learning, assessed through different means and/or demonstrated in practice. Various
teachers’ groups in the country have also been urging DepEd to review the K to 12
program. The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)
Philippines emphasized that a “comprehensive” review of the K to 12 program is “very
much needed” to address challenges and problems in its implementation. The DepEd’s
prime reason for this curriculum review is to teach Filipino schoolchildren the correct
knowledge, skills, and values so that they will learn and grow up as a productive citizen
of our country.