TO HELP students and teachers cope with stress due to the challenges of continuing education amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Education’s decision to open a mental health helpline is a welcome step.
But really, the real solution is for DepEd to provide adequate support to teachers and students for the blended distance learning program and impose genuine academic ease. Many students and teachers experience added stress with the demands of blended distance learning. Families of many pupils are affected by the rising unemployment and underemployment. Many families barely have enough for their basic everyday needs due to the worsening economic crisis. Students do not only have to think about their lessons every day, but also how they can help their parents provide food on the table.
Teachers are also burdened by the demands of blended distance learning and now also the preparation for the face-to-face classes with minimal support from DepEd. Teachers do not have internet allowances to ensure connectivity for their online classes. Teachers have to provide their own gadgets for the mountains of paperwork demanded from them by DepEd. With insufficient funding for distance learning, it is up to the teachers to find funds to ensure that there are enough printed modules for their students so that education can continue amid the pandemic.
It is an important step for DepEd to have a helpline for students and teachers who are experiencing mental health problems but DepEd’s response to the worsening crisis that many teachers and students are experiencing should not stop there.
The primary responsibility in providing safe, quality and accessible education lies in the hands of the national government. Teachers have gone beyond what is asked from them and beyond what is provided by the government to make sure that they still are able to fulfill their duties as frontliners in education. The Duterte administration must still address its shortcomings in education and prioritize education in the 2022 national budget. Provide enough learning materials and gadgets for teachers and students, fund adequate teaching expenses allowance for teachers especially this time when they are forced to work at home which demand laptops and other gadgets, and ensure that the curriculum is appropriate and suitable for the different mode of learning for quality education.
Do not blame teachers for the shortcomings of the administration to our education system.
