LEARNING CONTINUITY PLANNING

Noel Nathaniel C. Soriano

Learning Continuity Plans are like contingency plans with which emerging issues in the teaching and learning process as well as the school management and operation are virtually accommodated given a compromising situation that affects planning and decision making.

DepEd has been very keen in the crafting of LCPs that would accommodate the new normal state of education. Hence, public schools are mandated to conceive and prepare LCPs that will guide school administrators and teachers in the dispensation of their primarily functions in the educative processes.

The continuance of learning in a Pandemic state is likely associated with sailing the same route but this time on a windy hour but the Captain is determined to the reach the destination despite of untoward possibilities. The goal is to deliver his cargo ashore safe as it can be beyond desperation and uncertainty.

That is why he may have to device a reliable plan suiting his purpose which is to achieve his goal regardless of the challenge ahead of him.

The LCP is an explicit and comprehensive overview of school administrators in coping up with these trying and unlikely times. Generally, it is the lay-out of yet another master plan generated from the School Improvement Plan but this time it is very specific in contention and outcome. It is aiming on how it can carry the learning community across the expected learning gains despite of the pressing challenges of the new normal.

The planning for learning continuity involves primarily the stakeholders of a school. It is conceived in the light of providing ways and means for learning to continue and prosper under the new normal state of living. The school heads often is the captain and master planner and the teachers are significantly his planning mates with the support and participation of the stakeholders and the barangay council. The success of the conception and completion of the LCP from its crafting to the implementation phase is virtually the responsibility of the entire learning community.

Considering that one of the predominant health safety protocols imposed by the IATF and the DoH as well is the physical distancing. Schools literally find ways to convene for LCP Preparation through online meeting arrangement. This is not usual but it has to be done and the result is that somehow schools are able to conceive their LCPs in time. This can be noted and credited to the resourcefulness of school heads and teachers given a meagre means of digital access and resources. The best practice that can be derived in the conception of the plan is attributive to the sincerity and enthusiasm of the learning community to prevail against the pressing challenges of the new normal state.

As part of the plan where teaching and learning adjustment and process are concerned, the LCP is incorporating learning modalities as provided by the Department of Education. These modalities are predetermined according to the choice of the learning community as reflected in the Learner’s Enrolment and Survey Form or LESF which were provided to enrolling learners sometimes in April 2020 through the kiosk or booth enrolment platform. From the generated information of the LESF, LCP planners are now able to make priority preparation whether the learning community opted to continue learning through online lessons, modules or the selflearning kits, a combination of both like the blended learning and other forms of learning packages such the TV and Radio broadcast.

Apart from these modalities, the LCP planners are also working on the upholding of health safety protocols within the school if the possibility of a face to face learning scenarios may be granted. Hence, as part of the elaborate plan to continue the teaching and learning process, restructuring of school facilities such as the constructions and repair of hand wash and toilet facilities are of primordial concerns. Another is the plan for a periodic maintenance of the school through disinfecting activity as well as the procurement of health related logistics. In addition, the resources requirements in the production of self-learning kits or modules are fundamentally stated in the LCP.

Other than these, the planner also considered the continuing professional growth of the teachers even in the Pandemic times. Hence, training and seminars are held in the safest way possible to learn and develop further the teaching competence and this through varied WEBINARS and other media platforms sponsoring educative trainings.

The success of the attempt of the learning community to push for the continuance of the teaching and learning process rests on the clarity, transparency and accountability of the school Learning Continuity Plan and the support of the stakeholders.

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The author is School Head at Atlu Bola High School