WITHOUT the support of a sufficiently massive technological preparation, what do we make of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) push for its “Learning Continuity Plan” during this time of pandemic?
The students’ lack of access to computer and internet is the most serious road block to distance learning during this perilous time.
DepEd should make a realistic appraisal of the computer access of families of public school children, especially in the time of pandemic. Teachers very well know that very few of public school students have their own computer units. A great majority has no computers at home and only rely on computer shops for school requirements. Most households who have computers, on the other hand, use these for the parents’ work. Even teachers themselves do not know how their own children can cope with distance education when they have to use their laptops for teaching. You can only imagine the problem faced by families with two or more children who are studying.
Well, DepEd announced that with the combined number of gadgets it expects to receive and plans to buy, the agency will have about 1.1 million laptops and tablets for some 21.4 million learners and 190,574 laptops for about 900,000 public school teachers.
Is this gadget procurement plan substantial enough compared to the humongous technological requirement for distance learning to work and become accessible to all students enrolled in public schools?
DepEd secretary Leonor Briones said in a Senate hearing that the agency’s “online survey” showed that 687,911 out of 788,000 teacher respondents have laptops, which she claimed means that teachers can contact their students through online platforms for learning continuity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Really, now?
The agency should not be lax with its survey findings that a supposed 87 percent of teachers have laptops and desktops. This does not represent readiness to conduct online classes as many teachers are complaining that their personal laptops are old, out-dated, and cannot support online application.
If the government cannot ensure that distance learning will be fully accessible to our poor students, they might as well postpone the planned school opening. Having a sizeable portion of your school children drop out for a year will bring bigger problems to education access and quality the following year.
