Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Pandemic. Vaccine. Scary right? As long as the name of the virus that brought chaos in humans since the latter part of 2019, it affected even the educational system that led to the question, where is the stand of the educational system now? With schools offering special science curriculum, what is the quality of education being offered to the students at the moment? Let me take you a short tour of my simple assessment.
It is stipulated under Department Order 46, s. 2012 on Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Special Curricular Programs at the Secondary Level that aims to correspond with the standards that the other countries are already offering. Being career pathways, the Special Curricular Programs take the place of Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) of the core curriculum. All the other subjects of the core curriculum shall be adopted, including the time allocation as stipulated in DepEd Order No. 31, s. 2012. The add-ons to the core curriculum shall be the advance subjects of the Special Programs. Likewise, the schools have the option to further enrich the curriculum, provided that the requirements of the core curriculum and the special curricular programs have been met. Having the policy stated above, it is but imperative and the desire of the educational system to offer quality education at its best with the DepEd vision and mission at the core of all its undertakings. A different twist was made as the school year 2020-2021 opened last October. To ensure health protocols and combat the spread of the infectious virus, different modalities were offered to students suiting their needs and applicable to what the school can offer and extend. With that, education continues. And it prosper as scheduled monitoring of modules were done. Yes, it made students learn while staying at home and be promoted on the next year level while waiting for the pandemic to ease. But the real question is, is it enough? In the case of those students enrolled under the special science curriculum, face to face learning definitely has a bigger impact to inculcate knowledge for lifelong learning. Now, are they really learning the art of specialized subjects they must take this school year? Got some feedback from both parents and students through online platforms and they cry about not being able to understand everything as they have to learn on their own or use the different mechanism engines online. Really far from 100% transfer of knowledge, having the teacher-student interaction is the best key to ensure that students learn and understand the concepts involved in the most essential learning competencies. No matter how we try to do it now, it’s outlandish. With the vaccine waiting for initiation in our country, we can say that it’s almost there. We can almost see the silver lining. And until that time comes, the special science curriculum will still wait for approval for face-to-face learning. By then, quality learning is achievable.
In spite of the different hindrances in the educational system, we managed. We find ways and we deliver. I guess that’s better than not being able to do anything at all. It’s hard, really hard, but we will just keep on hoping that one day, as the pandemic ends, everything that was laid in the annual implementation plan of the school will be carried out and for the lapses to be sealed for the benefit of both the administration, the faculty, the students and other stakeholders. And while we wait for that, students, please sit back, relax, answer your module, and wait for this pandemic to fold. Hang in there. We got your back!
Reference:
DO 46, s. 2012 – “Policy Guidelines on the Implementation of the Special Curricular Programs at the Secondary Level”.http://www.deped.gov.ph/orders/do-46-s-2012.
