BACK TO SCHOOL DESK FROM DESKTOP

ANNA KARINA C. GALANG

In any misfortune in a person’s life, perhaps one of the most affected are the children. One impactful event is this pandemic where our children experienced a different teaching-learning process. Then, kids wake up early in the morning, wearing their school uniforms, carrying books and projects, saying “hello” to their teachers and classmates, and having to sit on their desks for hours learning and experiencing how it is to be a student… all of it changed. For the past two years, students learned in front of their computer desktop and relying on internet connection for them to attend their classes to study. There are parents who are frustrated on the set up but we fail to see that what we should worry is the aftermath. Have our children truly learned from the online or modular set-up? And are they ready once face-to-face classes resumes? It may seem to be a concern that we do not have control on but I think the shift from modules and computer desktop back to interaction with teachers inside their classrooms on their desks is something that we should prepare them for. Two months in the school year has passed and we can see that students have yet again been so resilient and adoptable to constant change. As a parent and a member of the educational bureaucracy, I think continuous motivation and positivity amid the challenges our learners faced in coming back to the school grounds for their face-toface classes would make the transition a little less stressful for them. Let us be a beacon of light that reminds our children that the school is just one venue for them to learn and that what is important is their commitment and dedication to learning. Let us motivate them that learning happens to anyone who is willing and ready to accept it no matter how or where they do it. Let us make our children see the importance of education for their future.

-oOo

The author is Project Development Office I Officer-inCharge Education Program Specialist II Division at City of

San Fernando, (P)