Senate okays class opening amendment

THE Senate has approved on third and final reading a bill that gives the President the authority to postpone the opening of classes beyond August. Sen. Win Gatchalian, coauthor and sponsor of Senate Bill 1541, thanked his colleagues for recognizing the urgency of the proposed measure and giving their approval before the sine die adjournment. Should the proposed measure become a law before the opening of classes, the President and the Department of Education (Deped) would have more flexibility to start the school year if Covid-19 cases keep rising and threaten the safety of learners, teachers and nonteaching personnel, according to Gatchalian. By amending Section 3 of Republic Act (RA) 7797, or “An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from Two Hundred (200) Days to Not More Than Two Hundred Twenty (220) Class Days,” Senate Bill 1541 authorizes the President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Education, to move the start of the school year during a state of emergency or calamity. SBN 1541 covers all basic education institutions, including foreign or international schools. RA 7797 originally mandates the start of the school year from the first Monday of June to the last day of August. “The immediate effect of this legislation would be to empower the President to move the start of the school year 2020-2021 to September or even later in the event that public-health authorities would recommend the postponement of the school year in order to contain the spread of Covid-19,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture. Senate Bill 1541 is a substitute bill consolidating proposals by Senators Joel Villanueva, Francis Tolentino and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. The House version is still pending at the committee level, and lawmakers are looking at the possibility of having the House adopt the Senate version.

Pia: Make ‘bayanihan’ work

MEANWHILE, Sen. Pia S. Cayetano exhorted the country’s educators on Monday (June 1) with this message: “The bayanihan spirit is called upon now more than ever to make education effective for our young children,” as she called for a whole-of-society approach to address challenges to the basic education sector during Covid-19 and beyond. Speaking before Deped’s virtual kickoff program of the 2020 Brigada Eskwela and Oplan Balik Eskwela, Cayetano reiterated the importance of blended learning to ensure that no child will get left behind in receiving quality education during the new normal. “The urgent task at hand [is] the delivery of the education materials. So we are now rushing to set into place other modes of delivery because the usual physical classroom setting will not be happening anytime soon,” the senator noted. “However, I’d like to include in the discussion that beyond the delivery of education is [the need to] reach every single child with the help of tools available to us, so we can optimize learning for each child,” she added. Cayetano said this requires more than just shifting to a different teaching platform—from physical classes to online classes—but a comprehensive “blended” approach, which will employ the participation of parents, teachers and communities in delivering education to children. Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), Innovation and Futures Thinking, said educators can turn current challenges into opportunities to jumpstart education for the future. “I support the initiatives and at the same time challenge Deped to make the most of these challenging times and really revolutionize education for our young people today,” she said. Deped Secretary Leonor Briones said her agency shares Cayetano’s goal of approaching the sector’s needs using a futures thinking mindset. Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan also expressed his support for Cayetano’s message. He said there is now a much-needed opportunity to “really transform the [country’s] education system.” Deped is preparing to deliver different learning modalities to children during the crisis, which include printed modules, online learning resources, and television and radio instructions. “I trust that in the weeks and months to come, [we can cascade] all this information and bring our educators up to speed so the knowledge that [our children] will receive outside of the classroom is maximized,” added Cayetano, the principal author of three laws on flexible learning, including the Open High School System Act (RA 10665), Open Distance Learning Act (RA 10650) and Ladderized Education Act (RA 10647).