EDUCATION

SYSTEM IN THE
PHILIPPINES
AMIDST COVID-19
Lizamarie Campoamor-Olegario, Ph.D.
Education Foundations, Division of Curriculum and Instruction
U.P. College of Education
Enrolment for 2020-2021

• Kinder to high school (Actual): Over 21 million

• Last year: 27M
• School-age population: 31M – 32M
• College students: 3M
• Why don’t they enroll?
Bakit ayaw mag enrol ng mga magulang?

• Akala online, walang gadgets at internet

• Pagkain muna
• Baka magkasakit
• Mas gusto ang face to face
• Hindi kayang tutukan ang anak
Bakit ayaw mag enrol ng mga magulang?

• Skeptical sa effectiveness ng modular at online

• Sayang ang bayad dahil kami din ang magtuturo sa anak
• Magtratransfer sa public pero wala pang papers
• Late enrollee, wait and see muna
Tuition Fees

• Private school parents demanding lower tuition

• Coordinating Council of Private Educational
Institutions (COCOPEA): recurring costs cannot be
waived
• Many teachers didn’t have salary when classes
were suspended
Immediate Option: Online classes

• Kinder to high school: DepEd Commons

• can be accessed free of data charges through a
partnership with telcos
• Commission on Higher Education: developing the
PHL Connect website
• Private schools: technical requirements
Immediate Option: Online classes

• Many families are not financially and

technologically prepared
• Need to buy computers or smartphones
• Need to subscribe to wifi providers
• Problem of connectivity
Option Now: Print-based

• Printed learning materials: picked up or delivered

weekly
• Teachers prepare modules
• Some teachers: once a week online sessions
• Teachers need to be available for questions
• Online summative assessment
• Support from parents is expected
Psychosocial Support and Training

For Parents:
• ‘Gabay Bahay: An Online Parenting Series’
• Weekly every Wednesday at 4pm
• July 15 to Aug 19
• Aim: to engage with parents in protecting the health, safety,
and well-being of their children
• Streamed live at DepEd Philippines FB page
• 75k views
Psychosocial Support and Training

For Teachers and School Heads:

• July 21-30: Online trainings on the provision of
remote Psychological First Aid (PFA) for learners
• Until Sept 11: Psychosocial Support and Training
on Wellness
• self-care, intellectual and financial wellness,
environmental wellness, social and vocational
wellness and other dimensions of wellness
Face-to-Face Classes in Low-Risk Areas

• Requested by several local government units and

private schools
• can only happen January 2021 under conditions
set by the DOH, DepEd and IATF.
Television and Radio-Based Learning

• National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) to

support
• Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, has requested
television, radio, and cable operators to broadcast
educational materials and instructions as part of the
Department’s Basic Education Learning Continuity
Plan (BE-LCP).
• Backed-up by DICT
Quality of Education
Has Always Been an Issue

• Low budget for education

• Schools lack books, computers
• More buildings needed
• More teachers needed
• both in public and private schools
• Low salary of teachers
• Poor basic competencies of students
• Teacher competencies need to be addressed
The Need for Paradigm Shift

Teacher- Learner-
Centere Centere
d d
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ontent/uploads/
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Stark Divide Between Can and Cannot Afford

• The pandemic highlights it

• Online summer classes for those who can afford
and can continue to have classes even with
academic freeze
• There are parents who cannot read and write and
cannot afford to hire tutors to help their children
Stark Divide Between Can and Cannot Afford

• Care:
• Some students are home alone while adults are working
• Some students take care of their siblings or ill family
members
• Digital Device:
• Not every child has access to digital devices or internet conne
ctivity at home
• Those who have digital devices may need to share them with
their siblings
Stark Divide Between Can and Cannot Afford

• Internet:
• Not all students may have access to the Internet, phone lines, TV or radio
• Those who have access to the internet may not have good enough
connections to support programs such as Zoom
• Skill: Students may lack digital competencies
• Home support:
• Not every student has a quiet place to study
• Some students work to help support their family
• Not all school students receive the same level of support at home
Compromises of Rushing a Vaccine

• Not thoroughly tested

• More people
• Long-term effects
• Remember Dengvaxia
• Mass production will take time
Repercussions

• Until when?
• digital divide is fully resolved
• curve-flattening
• Vaccine
• How about teachers’ salary?
• The more that the less
fortunate Filipinos will be
left behind
The Need to Provide Education During the
Pandemic

• Access to education is a basic human right

• Education in emergencies provides
• immediate physical and psychosocial protection
(Learners will be exposed less frequently to activities that
put them at risk)
• as well as life-saving knowledge and skills
(for example, with respect to disease prevention, self-
protection and mental resources that increase their
resilience).
The Need to Provide Education During the
Pandemic

• Participation in education programs can provide a

sense of continuity
• A sense of normalcy, stability, structure, and
hope for the future during a time of crisis

Source: The UN Refugee Agency (2019)

Continuum of Type of Learners
What are the misconceptions of remote learning in the new normal?

What can we do?

Quality of learning is low
Learners feel isolated
There’s no interaction
with other learners
Remote Learning Costs more
 It’s difficult to get
hold of your teacher
Cheating is more common
and easier in remote classes
 Students are not
interested to learn
Food first before learning
Teachers are not
ready
Teachers have to
create modules
There’s a need to dispel myths to
make parents enroll their children
and for the teachers to be
inspired to work.
 How can we ensure that
education continues to be
forwarded in the new normal is
accessible and inclusive to the
marginalized sectors?
Accessibility should be
a “state of mind”
Make Reasonable Adjustments

• Not one size fits all

• Rethink infrastructure
• Identify the content that students need
• Address self-regulation
• Create a support system
• Maximize collaboration
• Develop a plan that prepares for education in
emergencies
Let’s take the pandemic
an opportunity to rethink about how
we teach our students
and at the same time
learn from how they learn
effectively.
Question and
Answer