Listen to parents on continuing blended learning in private schools
Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada at Kuryente (BK3) calls on the government to give private schools the option to continue providing blended learning to their students beyond October 31. Department Order 34 of the Department of Education mandates a complete return to face-to-face classes by November 1.
We go back to that adage, “parents know best.” We are aware that parents of these students have misgivings about a complete return to face-to-face mode, and that their reasons are perfectly valid and understandable.
We support the plea of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA) for the discretion to continue providing blended learning to their students, citing a host of reasons ranging from the continued threat posed by COVID-19, the state of public transportation, to the disparate capacities of schools, in term of facilities, to receive returning students.
Of course, the ideal scenario is for all children to be able to go to their schools just the way they did before the pandemic. But while some schools have demonstrated a readiness to welcome students back with the requisite physical distancing and other safety measures, other schools simply do not have this capacity.
Greater flexibility is needed for schools to ensure the safest learning environment for students and their personnel. A regular classroom cannot accommodate 40 students and have them seated at safe distances.
Furthermore, the number of new COVID cases is still on the rise, and there is no guarantee that the measures undertaken by schools for a safe return would in fact prevent another surge. Young children, specifically, have been so eager to go out of the confines of their homes and may not be as careful or mindful of health protocol.
There are also health risks faced by teachers and administrators, especially since some of them may be older or may have co-morbidities and other health issues.
All these contribute to parents’ anxieties about their children rejoining an outside world that is a little more unsafe.
Meanwhile, some private schools have shown their ability to effectively deliver education through various online and offline methods. Why should we abandon the alternative teaching methods we adapted during the pandemic, when we have learned that an effective hybrid method is possible even outside the four walls of the classroom
In a crucial matter such as the balancing of education and health priorities, flexibility and openness are key. It is the teachers, school officials and especially parents who know the situation firsthand. We must listen to them.