Challenges of new normal education among Kindergarten teachers

Among the most affected in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic are Kindergarten teachers, who are faced with overcoming challenges towards the new normal.

It is good to note that support has always been extended to then, like when the Department of Education (DepEd) tapped the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist in the implementation of the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan to Kindergarten to Grade 3 students through ABC+ project.

Started last July 2019, ABC+ project is a 5-year partnership of USAID and DepEd that aims to improve literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional learning aforementioned grade levels, especially that the School Year 20202021 will be conducted through distance learning.

The partnership has paved for the conduct of online training to almost 4,500 teachers on how to strategize learning and to conduct the transition from school to home study. The initiative also developed home learning guides and learner activity sheets as part of the scheme.

The project, in collaboration with the DepEd field offices, was able to determine a set of rapid assessment tools to determine the learners’reading level to apply all the necessary interventions.

The partnership has also assured that materials created by the project are matched with DepEd’s Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) and digitized version will be uploaded to the DepEd Commons for wider access.

The project also aims to help the Department in gathering all the necessary feedback from the field by creating a platform and various technical assistance in figuring out learning delivery modalities, especially to K-3 learners.

--oOo— The author is Teacher III at Mabiga Elementary School, Mabalacat City