Background and Context

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 Background and Context
The COVID-19 crisis has not only disrupted people's normal lives but forced educational systems across the
world to find alternatives to the traditional face-to-face instruction. As the COVID-19 pandemic poses health risks,
the abrupt shift to remote teaching and increased care-taking responsibilities at home have created a stressful
and demanding environment not only for teachers' but also for parents' work.

During the pandemic, major concerns arose about the well-being of teachers and the educational system
as a whole, as well as their ability to successfully deliver instruction from a distance.
The pandemic appeared to have most vulnerably defined educational opportunities. Students from privileged
backgrounds who are supported by their parents and who are eager and capable of learning may be able to
find their way past closed school doors to alternative learning opportunities. Those from disadvantaged
backgrounds were frequently reliant on the modules provided by public schools.

Since its outbreak over two years ago, COVID-19 continues to cause panic around the globe because it is life
threatening and can even cause long-term effects on the health of people who contracted the virus. But in April 2022,
the World Health Organization reported that the number of new COVID cases and fatalities worldwide have continued to
decline since the end of March with more than 5 million infections and 18, 000 reported deaths in the last week.

Source: WHO, April 2022

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 Background and Context
As of 17 April 2022, over 500 million confirmed cases and over 6 million deaths have been reported globally, a 24% and
12% decrease respectively, as compared to the previous week.

Source: WHO, April 2022

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 Background and Context
The Philippines has a total of 3,681,374 COVID-19 cases and 59,769 (1.6%) COVID-19 related deaths
had been recorded since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic (data as of April 10, 2022). There was a
sudden and sharp increase in cases in late December 2021, but after peaking in early January, a decreasing
trend has been continuing in the number of cases reported per day (Figure 1). There were 1,905 new cases
(1.7 cases per 100,000 population3 ) reported in week 14 (4-10 April 2022), that is 29% lower than the previous
week (28 March – 3 April 2022: 2,670 new cases, 2.4 cases per 100,000 population3 ). For week 14, NCR,
Region IV-A: CALABARZON, and Region III: Central Luzon recorded the highest case counts at 678, 268, and
199 respectively (WHO, April 2022).

Central Luzon has reported a total cases of approximately 361, 603 cases as of April 20, 2022 with 1, 432
active cases, 353, 515 recovered and 6, 618 deaths (DOH, 2022). The Province of Bulacan has the most
number of cases with 136, 370 followed by Pampanga with 68, 974, Bataan with 41, 587, Nueva Ecija with 41,
130, and Tarlac with 28, 918 (DOH, April 2022).

Source: WHO, April 2022

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 Background and Context

Due to the declining number of cases in COVID-19, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on February 27,
2022 recommended that National Capital Region (NCR) and 33 areas including Nueva Ecija be placed under
alert level 1 starting March 1, 2022 (Inquirer, February 2022).

As the country continue to grapple with the covid-19 virus, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) placed 88
areas including Nueva Ecija under alert level 1. According to OCTA Research, COVID-19 reproduction in Metro
Manila from April 21 to April 27 slightly increased to 071 from 0.62 from the previous week. The Department of
Health reported the country’s first case of the dreaded Omicron BA.2.12, a subvariant of the highly
transmissible Omicron variant which causes high surge in the US (DOH, April 2022).

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 Background and Context
Effects of Pandemic on Education: SDO Nueva Ecija Experience

Most countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia imposed a lockdown on their populations, which
closed schools, businesses, industry and shops with the advent of covid-19. Almost 100 percent of
children in Asia were out of school during March, April and May 2020. Full school closures lasted for
different durations, ranging from approximately one month in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-
Leste to over a year in Bangladesh and the Philippines. Children in many parts of the region were
deprived of face-to-face learning for a significant period of time as a result of the pandemic. The
suspension of face-to-face instruction, in which children with disabilities are most reliant, compelled these
type of learners to accept the distance learning despite of limited infrastructure and no access to internet
(UN, 2020).

With the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Department of Education ordered the
implementation of a Distance Learning set-up in SY 2020-2021, in accordance with the Basic Education-
Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). The public schools accepted 24.7 million students on October 5,
2020, several months later following the countrywide lockdown.

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 Background and Context
To prepare for online learning, surveys such as readiness assessments were completed months
before the school opened. Because modular learning is the preferred learning method in schools, the
printing of self-learning modules (SLMs) has been a top priority for the Department of Education.

Modular learning via printed and digital modules is the most popular method of distance learning in
Tarlac Province among parents with children enrolled during the pandemic. This includes learners in
remote areas where the internet is not available for online learning.

According to the results of the enrollment survey completed by parents/guardians in the Learner
Enrollment and Survey Form (LESF) for SY 2020-2021, the majority of parents/guardians of elementary
learners preferred modular learning as a distance learning modality for their children, while those in junior
high to senior high school preferred online learning. The smartphone is the most readily available device at
home for learning, followed by non-cable TV.

Per a June 2020 survey, there are roughly equal numbers of elementary students with and without
internet connectivity; more parents of students in grades 7 to 12 responded that they have ways to connect
to the internet. These findings confirm the digital divide among public school students.

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 Background and Context
Health crises and economic shocks increased the risk of massive school dropouts at the start of the
pandemic year, which occurred across the country. Thousands of parents in Nueva Ecija considered not
enrolling their children in SY 2021-2022 due to pandemic fears and difficulties in technology access for
remote learning. School interventions such as home visits and online kumustahan, among others,
significantly reduced the number of school dropouts.
Learners' achievement has decreased in just two years of missing face-to-face instruction. The
learners demonstrated learning gaps in literacy and numeracy from previous school years. This has
implications for whether teachers can provide similar content to students in their classrooms via distance
learning, and whether parents can provide their children with optimal remote education during the
pandemic.

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 Background and Context

Mitigating the effects of covid-19 pandemic on Education

COVID-19 has caused a crisis in the educational system, which institutions must address at the
soonest possible time. The uncertainty and volatility of the pandemic compelled the education system
to respond quickly to the new learning landscape or the new normal. In the context of the SDO
Tarlac Province, schools are encouraged to be resilient in times of crisis. In the educational system,
resiliency is defined as the ability to overcome a variety of difficulties, including trauma, tragedy, and
crises, and emerge stronger, wiser, and more powerful (Henderson, 2012, cited in Dayagbil, et al.,
2021).
In the midst of a pandemic, the teaching and learning process takes on new dimensions. To
mitigate the effects of the pandemic on education, the shift from traditional face-to-face to distance
learning modalities such as modular learning (printed and digital), and now to blended learning, is a
reality in this new normal. During the first quarter of SY 2021-2022, schools in the Cavite Elementary
School resorted to modular learning to ensure that learning continued in accordance with the SDO
Nueva Ecija Learning Continuity Plan.

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 Background and Context
The BE-LCOP highlights the importance of integrating technologies and several approached to
distance learning. This program involves crafting of innovations of research to create evidence-based
policies and propose programs, projects, and activities based on evidence-based planning and
adherence to current policies and guidelines on resource development and management.
Well-being of teaching, non-teaching and learners are SDO Nueva Ecija’s priorities and to protect
them from the spread of COVID-19 virus by partnering with other government agencies and
stakeholders in the vaccination project. The pandemic years also saw the increase in professional
development of teaching and non-teaching using virtual platform. Partnerships with stakeholders also
were forged for the delivery of quality education..
Alongside the implementation of the K-12 curriculum in Nueva Ecija adopting the Most Essential
Learning Competencies (MELCs), technical assistance strategies were also provided to school heads
in preparation for the start of the school year in terms of implementing their school-based BE-LCOP.
The number of quality-assured learning resources increased in response to the growing need for
localized and contextualized learning materials.