A school year like no other

THIS school year will go down in history as the scariest, most dangerous and most uncertain for both teachers and students.

A pandemic no one saw coming has thrown the education sector upside down and disrupted lives.

Suddenly, the traditional way of teaching that had equipped generation after generation had to be ditched. An invisible yet deadly enemy forced governments to abandon old practices and systems that everybody knew and accepted, leaving everyone wondering how life would be under a “new normal” that, by all reckoning, is far from normal.

And so, in the Philippines, a blended learning system has to be adopted, in place of physical classes where teachers get to see and mentor students up close and personal. To curb the spread of the contagion and preserve the health of learners and teachers, remote classes will now be the norm, and instead of chalk and blackboard, teachers will make use of new instruments of learning — the internet, radio, television and printed modules.

There has been no such great disruption to education (and to normal living as we know it) since the war. We weathered super typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and violent conflict without abandoning the old way of life. But a pandemic is a different matter altogether.

Thus, since face-to-face lessons in physical classrooms are out, teachers will find themselves holding virtual classes when “schools” open this August. Public school teachers in areas with access to the internet will conduct limited online classes, to be supplemented by reading materials picked up by the students or their parents’ weeks before class opening.

To be sure, despite the holding of simulation classes and training sessions, teachers are groping in the dim light of uncertainty and anxiety, some fearing that these nonconventional methods of teaching would not be as effective as the old methods.

Blended learning, while not new as it has been practiced for years in a limited manner in most countries with the advent of the internet, has not been adopted as the general system in formal public school education, thus the doubts and fears of teachers can be understood. Transitioning from a physical to a virtual classroom can indeed give us the creeps. How indeed will teachers fare delivering lessons to students they are unable to see?

Foremost in many teachers’ minds is one nagging question: would children learn their lessons via distance education?

The greater challenge is for those residing in remote villages, where neither phone nor television signals have yet to reach. How will learners fare when lessons are delivered through printed materials and the radio?

These questions will not be answered until after the new systems of learning have been implemented. As with every novel scheme, there will be a need to assess and review these new methods to determine if the country is on the right path, as far as educating the youth is concerned. If these methods fall short, education officials and concerned sectors will have to fine-tune the system or find some other means to ensure that children will continue their learning process.

In the meantime, teachers must carry on the torch and continue to do their mission despite their doubts and fears: Educate the youth, even during a pandemic.