Pandemic days have taken away so much from the learners

Jaybee D. Basilio

Time has flown so fast. It is still fresh in our minds as the announcement of the cancellation of classes roars in the vicinity of the school. It was expected and treated as one of those regular cancellations of classes. But we were caught off guard. This one is going to last long; far longer than we expected. This is going to go down the history of the teaching and learning in the Philippines.

The pandemic days have taken away so much from the learners. A lot that the teachers, learners, and parents obviously weren’t really concern about during the pandemic days. But now that the progressive face-to-face learning is being implemented, stakeholders could revisit the losses that we have during these days. There are a lot to note which are indirectly felt by the learners during the pandemic. Undoubtedly, this pandemic is unexpected so we cannot blame anyone on this. But looking back and enumerating what have been taken away from learners during the pandemic days may be a great start to make the upcoming teaching-learning a better one. We cannot cry over spilled milk as they say, but listing all of these may help us to raise the bar and make the most out of the moments as the face-to-face learning resurfaces and bring back the glory of the old teaching and learning days.

Listed below are the observations of the writer on the things taken away by the Pandemic days from our learners:

•Once in a lifetime graduation rites (Kindergarten Moving- up ceremony, Elementary graduation, Senior Highschool Graduation and College Graduation)

•Christmas Parties and exchange gifts

•Second-half of learning experiences with classmates and teachers

•More concrete learnings in physical or face-to-face set up

•Physical activities which are involved in learning

•Friendships that were interrupted

•Morning routines to prepare for school

Although the Department of Education did the best the still cater for the learnings of the students nationwide, we cannot deny that the things listed above have been taken away from the learners by the pandemic. Obviously, no one has the control of what had transpired. We just have to appreciate the efforts of this department. Again, having this list does not intend to make everyone feel bad and rather make us appreciate our chances of having the face-to-learning again and maximizing the experiences which have been swiped away from our treasured learners.

is Teacher

--oOo-

III at Teodoro P. Tinio Elemetary School, Angeles City