Pupils’ Learning Anxiety During the Pandemic

Chathele G. Guevarra

The pandemic has brought unprecedented events in the lives of the pupils especially learning difficulties caused by limited teacher’s interaction and inconveniences of remote learning modalities. Pupils are already on the brink of depression and anxiety amidst the incessant flow of modules overwhelming their cognitive capacity. Pupils’ psychological stress is further reinforced by mobility containment and the lack of personal interaction from peers. The situation is further intensified by boredom along with deteriorating family’s financial status and the confusing information flooding the social media which most pupils nowadays have easy access with the use of not so high-tech mobile gadgets. With the pandemic appearing to hover for quite a longer period in the face of this planet, so as the agony of the pupils subjected to immense challenges and difficulties brought by the new learning modalities that they are into right now. Staying at home for a prolonged period of time is not already enjoyable to pupils. After all, they don’t stay at home for nothing. New set of modules has to be answered every week. The content of the module itself is already a stressor. Pupils are now beginning to lose focus on their studies and are struggling to battle distractions in their respecting home-based learning spaces. The community at large seems to just ignore the problems of mental health amongst pupils and young learners at the middle of the pandemic. Perhaps because adults have their own problems to face and entertaining other problems outside of their own turf is already too much to handle. Parents without proper and adequate knowledge of pupils’ mental health issues would just simply set aside such situation currently experienced by their children out of ignorance or deliberate blind withdrawal from the reality. If they themselves cannot fend to address their own problems, how can they help their children cope up with their learning difficulties in the time of pandemic and at the minute detail – helping their children answer the module activities. It is by no doubt that the current pandemic situation has devastated almost every sector of the society. The underserved and the marginalized ones are the most pronounced and very visible. By simply looking at the faces of these people coming from such communities, one can easily paint a grotesque portrait of hopelessness and misery. Reflecting on such image of reality, we can easily wrap our heads and assert how does it feel to be in the situation of the young learners given such kind of scenario. Day after day we are waking up in a situation full of uncertainties and vagueness of the idealized future. The fangs of the pandemic are slowly consuming each and every individual in the society. But we can’t just lay down and let this gruesome situation easily consume us. By all means we have to find solutions to confront and address the problems brought by the pandemic, especially how to mitigate the current situation experienced by our young learners. Institutions, teachers and parents must help, collaborate and cooperate with each other so that collectively there is a strong positive force to guide, aid and assist our learners cope up with the difficulties they are experiencing more particular on their learning process and mental health issues. It can be a tall order for some of us but as the old adage would always say- ‘there is strength in numbers’. Parents and teachers are especially and essentially the primary sources of light and inspiration to our young learners and their positive influence is utmost needed at this point of time. May the positive force be with us so that we can help our pupils and young leaners cope up with their learning anxiety in this time of pandemic.