Unity and shared responsibility towards success in the new normal education

Mariz Jean C. Sangcap

THE Department of Education underscored that education is a shared responsibility, calling for the involvement of all sectors for success in education's new normal.

According to the agency, education has become a shared responsibility because of the health threat in the country.

The DepEd noted that challenges in the education sector cannot be separated from the problems arising in the society, particularly in the economy and crises such as COVID-19.

Indeed, the impact of COVID in the economy has been badly affected and has resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs which also limits the capacity of parents to continue sending their children to school.

To mitigate the effects of the pandemic and other societal problems, the DepEd has developed a learning continuity program with the help of organizations and government agencies.

Through the Basic Education-Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP), DepEd has introduced blended learning and addressed the digital divide by increasing digital learning support to schools and communities that needed it the most .

The Department also highlighted the vital role of stakeholders at the local and global level in raising awareness and action on education for sustainable development.

According to the Deped, learning, including education for sustainable development, is a shared responsibility. There is a need to integrate planning and to pull resources and ensure that there are various learning spaces, formal and informal, physical and virtual and in-person and remote that supports social and active learning and provide access to learning resources that enrich learning.

Promoting sustainable development in education is in the agency’s priorities, as it laid down efforts in researching, monitoring, and institutionalizing policies and programs for sustainable development.

The Department of Education recognizes the urgency to deepen commitment and action to inculcate among learners the awareness, knowledge, values, and capacity for sustainable development through education and learni ng.

In line with this, Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council stressed that education is truly a shared responsibility and collaboration across countries will help learners to achieve a well-rounded education.

This collaboration between parents, the teachers, the society, is so important in the well-rounded education that we will like our children to experience, the SEAMEO Council said.

Moreover, the Council said education through digital and blended learning will widen the capabilities of learners in creating a better future.

The experience of full-home-based learning provided the council a glimpse of the future reality, where pandemic or not, students and workers will need to be 100% digitally literate and abled.

This strengthens their intention to prepare every student, especially those with less resources, tools, and capabilities to drive in this digital future.

The openness of SEAMEO member countries to technology and digital learning is an integral component of the region’s strategy in learning continui t y.

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMEO) is a regional intergovernmental organization among governments of Southeast Asian countries that promotes the enhancement of regional understanding and cooperation in education, science, and culture.

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The author is Senior High School Teacher School

III at Pasig National High