Braving the challenges of the pandemic

Jocelyn R. Susi

Department of Education officials cited teachers who braved the challenge of the pandemic, and those who are continuing the Department’s mission of delivering quality basic education to every Filipino child.

They have striven, struggled, and worked to continue to address the growing demands of society and the impact of the pandemic. Now, they still continue efforts in spreading, expanding the reach of literacy among learners and population as well.

The agency has emphasized that education is a fundamental human right irrespective of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origins, religion, or age.

To be shut off, or be closed in, or worse be locked down in one’s own individual existence without knowing what is happening in the rest of the world is a terrible fate which the Department does not want to inflict on learners or any citizens of the country, officials said.

In this day and age of challenges, educators should be provided an avenue for sharing and documentation of practices, issues, and challenges in implementing literacy programs and projects for community development.

The Department has to make sure that every effort of everyone in the Philippines should be focused on making sure that the youngsters and even adult citizens are fully literate, functionally literate. COVID-19 may have given us big challenges but as we have shown in the formal sector and people working in other areas, we were able to demonstrate that the challenge could be surmounted if Bayanihan is at work.

The agency’s resolve is to make sure that even if there are constraints, it will not stop finding ways of ensuring that every Filipino can possess the foundational literacy skills that they need for them to survive, if not thrive, in this 21st century.

Times are challenging, but with resilience and innovation, the Department is confident that efforts towards higher literacy rates for the country will be successful, officials said.

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The author is Teacher I at Sta. Cruz Elementary School