Education For All

Melanie B. Batac

Education, as we understand it here, is a process of inviting truth and possibility, of encouraging and giving time to discovery. It is, as John Dewey (1916) put it, a social process – ‘a process of living and not a preparation for future living’. In this view educators look to act with people rather on them. Their task is to educate to bring out or develop once ability.

It is often said that we are learning all the time and that we may not be aware of it happening. Learning is both a process and an outcome. As a process it is part of living in the world, part of the way our bodies work. As an outcome it is a new understanding or appreciation of things.

Not all children receive the education they need. The Philippine Government keep on reaching learners and very significant working toward reaching these goals aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults.

Education seeks to create equal educational opportunities for all students, including those from different social-class groups. “In 2015 the Education for All (EFA) initiative included provisions to ensure all Filipinos were able to achieve what UNESCO calls “functional literacy”, the ability to read, write and do calculations at a level that is sufficient for the country in which a particular person lives. Further supporting the K-12 reform, the government set four key objectives for the EFA initiative: providing education options for all out-of-school adults and young people; eliminating drop-outs and repetition during the first three years of school; encouraging the completion of a full cycle of basic schooling to a satisfactory level at every grade by all Filipino children; and committing to the attainment of basic education competencies for everyone.

The question is, Is this really applicable now a days? Well, The impact of COVID-19 on the right to education is felt worldwide. We are still affected today. As many countries have begun phased processes of reopening schools, There is still a debate on the parents income, how they can send their children’s to school, is it safe for the kids to go to school? A large number of girls, boys, and adolescents from low-income families, and in rural areas do not have access to distance learning, especially computers and the Internet. Other cases of children living in remote rural areas do not have access to Internet, TV and sometimes not even a radio.

In this case, the Department of Education will be the one to provide and distribute the self learning modules to every students every week through their respective schools. They will have ample time to study and assess the modules before the start of weekly class. Students are expected to complete the task and submit their outputs at the end of the week. Open communication between the teacher to students and/or teacher to parents/guardians is also part of this setting. This is to ensure and monitor the progress of the students at home to meet all learners needs.

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The author is Teacher III at Porac Elementary School, Porac East District