The entire Philippine education sector is under “very intense” pressure, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones said as the country shifts to distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Criticisms of teachers and DepEd add up to the challenges of adjusting to distance learning, Briones said as she noted that DepEd officials, teachers, are also “suffering” from the changes.
“It’s not only dealing with the physical dangers of pandemic, it’s dealing with the psychological requirements,” she said in an online press briefing.
“Whatever you try to do is hardly noticed at all and to keep on, that’s a huge challenge for education,” she said. “The pressures are very, very intense as you can imagine.”
The education chief added that the DepEd has put priority on the upskilling of teachers so that they could adjust to the requirements and changes brought by distance learning.
“This time, we are putting also additional emphasize on the upskilling of teachers themselves,” she said.
“That means a different way of teaching, different combinations of learning modalities, different skills that are needed. Mas matindi ang pressures at this time on all of us, including myself,” she added.
For the upcoming school year, the DepEd will employ blended learning—which would make use of printed learning materials, online instruction, and radio and television as education delivery modes.
Learning materials can also be downloaded at the DepEd Commons website and Education PH.
Briones also noted that teachers are facing “very, very different” pressures since they have to “upskill and to learn new ways of teaching.”
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