‘Sustaining online education difficult’

THE Philippines would have a hard time implementing online and distance learning, a private school federation said.

“I think it will be very hard for us to sustain a fully online or a fully distance learning [set-up] for a long time,” Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association ( Cocopea) Managing Director Joseph Noel Estrada said in an online roundtable interview with The ManilaTimes.

“Definitely, the Philippines

would not be able to sustain this for long term like we have seen in other countries,” he added.

Estrada pointed out that even rich countries have not completely stopped face-to-face classes.

“Even in other countries that are more advanced and economically [stable], they have not completely removed the face-to-face learning, but they are preparing for social [or physical] distancing [and] use of wide spaces,” he said.

Since no vaccine has been developed for the coronavirus disease, schools are preparing to adopt flexible learning options. President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he would not allow face-to-face classes as long as there is no vaccine.

The Department of Education (DepEd) had said children could continue learning through the internet, printed modules, radio and television.

But if education would be delivered in different modes, Estrada said student feedback should be gathered to determine the effectiveness of these flexible learning methods.

“These are actually good access points for the students but definitely that TV or radio use should be supplemented by other modalities that would allow interaction,” he explained.

Meanwhile, a federation of private schools on Tuesday urged the government to act immediately to prevent mass lay-offs and school closures.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) asked the government to subsidize the wages of teachers and support personnel in small private schools until these have safely reopened and enrollment has stabilized.

“ACT Private Schools has lamented that the effects of the pandemic and the quarantine policies had been seen to impact and result in the imminent closure of schools,” said ACT Private Schools Secretary General Jonathan Geronimo.

Geronimo earlier said many private schools were on the verge of closing.

He said 30 percent to 50 percent of personnel in these schools or about 102,000 to 170,000 teachers would be laid off.

The Cocopea also estimated that more than 2 million students will leave the private education system.