First day of classes went well despite challenges, DepEd says

Published Oct 6, 2020 11:04:54 AM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 6)— The Education Department on Tuesday acknowledged that technical challenges hounded the opening of basic education classes, but maintained the first day of school generally went well.

“In a big picture, it went very well yesterday,” Education Undersecretary and Spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla told CNN Philippines’ The Source.

“There are problems of course, we have a command center, we have some calls… Overall, we can say it went well,” she added.

The agency officially opened the new academic year on Monday, with over 22 million students from around 47,000 public schools going back to class amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sevilla recognized the challenges for teachers and students — including poor internet connectivity and lack of gadgets for online learning— but stressed the government is working to resolve these problems.

She noted that majority or about 85 percent of the enrolled learners chose the modular approach, wherein printed modules will be used for alternative learning.

“We do acknowledge that it (internet) is a problem, but for education, we have to continue. There’s something that we can do, and that is the modular approach,” the Education spokesperson said.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered a six-week-long postponement of the school opening, as the government sought to iron out the logistical limitations for the conduct of the blended and distance learning classes.

Under the law, the school year should start not later than the last day of August, but a measure signed by Duterte in July allowed him to set a different start date when there’s a state of emergency or calamity.

SOURCE: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/10/6/DepEd-first-day-of-school-went-well-internet-challenge.html