By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
In team sports, a coach plays a very crucial role. Of course, players are equally important.
In basketball games for instance, a coach of a team that is catching up tries to adjust vis-avis the game of the opposing team. It is an in-game adjustment. He shuffles his players, or changes his strategy to patch up the team’s weaknesses, and possibly overcome the lead of the other team. Even in a chess team competition, a coach tries to outwit the opposing coach/coaches-but at the start of games, not in-game.
The coach therefore should be a thinking one, always analyzing what is happening. He/she is focused, not unnecessarily distracted. (Believe it or not, I once coached a CA basketball team in a BSU Intramurals and we became champion. Also in chess, I coached several champion teams that reached even the national stage).
Now, the team at DepEd is a thinking one. And I believe the coach, I mean the Secretary, is up to the challenges that slumped on her doorsteps. That is to say, with the vital help of her team.
They saw the difficulties posed by opening the school calendar to October, then September, then August; all of which covered the hottest months of the year before they ended. Such opening months were dictated by the need of the time: there was the scourge that was Covid 19 that limited mobility by all. So, the move was justifiable then. There was little face-to-face teaching-learning activities anyway.
Problems metamorphosed later from Covid 19 to how students can cope up with the availability of gadgets and accessibility to WiFi connections, so important in a changed mode of education delivery. Everything turned upside down. Chaotic in a sense.
It was a real gargantuan challenge to students, parents, teachers and schools in general.
When the threat of Covid 19 somehow eased up, classroom instruction became once again the order of the day. With it, flaws of such school calendar opening became apparent. Logistical problems of a different kind as when there was pandemic, were forced on the lap of the schools.
We were earlier treated to a pitiful spectacle of students climbing trees, scaling mountains, braving even rains just to get WiFi connections. It was harsh.
Now, it is mostly the scorching heat of the sun that is providing unwanted difficulties, sometimes hilarious situations to both learners and teachers. Classrooms became without walls with a natural roof of green leaves, and immovable posts of tree trunks spliced with unpredictable winds that are sometimes gentle and other times uncaringly strong enough to hit the eyes and ears. They are more of a picnic area, not conducive to the teaching-learning process.
If everybody stays in the classrooms, they will all be soaking wet, no thanks to the almost unbearable heat inside as there are hardly any air fans inside to mitigate the suffering of everyone. That is a little horror, especially for the young school kids. A funny thing is that, everyone in the classroom is furiously fanning themselves which is definitely a distraction to the learning process for both students and teachers.
DepEd honchos, school officials and even concerned parents tried to ease the situation by buying electric fans, and installing air conditioning units where appropriate. In short, education became deemed more expensive than before.
Some teachers and officials were one in saying that: “Our classrooms were not designed for summer (meaning, dry months), so when rooms become really hot, our learners can not concentrate on their studies.” And as per experience, students got sick more often missing their classes in the process. CAR is not spared from this reality.
Some Baguio and Benguet school teachers that I talked to even bewailed the fact that they are being required to submit so many reports, adding to their teaching woes. That is also the case nationwide. Obviously, this also somehow affect their effectiveness in delivering better education services to their students. It’s no wonder that our students are now considered laggards in quality education even within the South East Asian region. How sad.
Fully cognizant of the above scenarios, Dep Ed officials are now determined to move back the opening of the school calendar to the pre-pandemic schedule. That is, the school calendar opens early June and ends in March. According to them, this is to “Take good care of our learners by promoting learners’ well-being, inclusive education, and a positive learning environment.”
DepEd’s plan is to gradually revert to the pre-pandemic opening of classes. It is supposed to be a response to various challenges of having classes during the scorching months (of Mar-May). “It aims to alleviate the burden on students, teachers and educational institutions that have faced issues related to the intense heat and other climatic factors affecting the learning environment.”
If you come to think of it, there were clamor before, even by then DepEd officials, to start the local school calendar year in August or September to make it attuned with those of other countries. This is to facilitate among others according to them, the transfer of students from here to other countries and vice versa. Also to have vacations here and abroad coincide. They were then actually thinking more of others than our situation here.
And I remember writing a column here in this paper citing several reasons why it is not appropriate for us to have such opening; three of which include the fact that the opening coincides with the months where we have the strongest typoons visiting us during the year leading to a very poor start of the school year; that the dry months are the best times for family travels within the country boosting tourism and local economy; and avoiding the scorching hot summer for classes.
We have learned our lessons. Trying to imitate what temperate countries are doing for their school calendar is a vain attempt; it is not to the best of better quality education here.
Reverting to the June to March school calendar should be a most welcome development; lower health risks, lesser expensive education, and hopefully better delivery of education services.
Is CHED in cadence with the plan of the DepEd? Just asking.**
