Learner preparedness among hurdles in pilot in-person classes

Students' lack of preparedness, and physical distancing are among the challenges experienced by both teachers and learners during the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes, an official of the Department of Education(DepEd) said Friday.

At a Senate hearing, DepEd Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma informed the panel that the DepEd’s assessment showed that limited time to accommodate all students' concerns and the limited teaching and learning resources are some difficulties encountered during the pilot face-to-face classes.

“The third challenge that we have gathered from the field, from those participating, is the [lack of preparedness] of learners for the face-to-face learning, especially the Kinder and the Grade 1 because ito pong (pupils in) Kinder and Grade 1, are the ones who have not tried schooling because of school closures.  So medyo naninibago po yung mga bata to go to classes (So face-to-face classes are new to them),” Garma said.

Apart from this, students and teachers are hardly adjusting to the standard health protocols imposed by the government, including the wearing of face masks and face shields as well as the physical distancing.

“Other challenges that were encountered in the field is the difficulty to hear the learners and the teachers, yung (the) teachers din because they are wearing the, yung  (the) audibility ng kanilang (of their) instruction is really hampered or impeded because of the muffled effect of the face mask. Yan po yung isang bagay na titignan natin (That's one of the factors that we assess), on really how to address this issue,” he said.

He noted that children, especially in lower grade levels, are not used to wearing face masks in their homes and the students often remove their masks while they are inside the classroom.

“‘Yung mga bata hindi po sila sanay mag-face mask when they are inside their homes so yung requirement for them to wear face masks inside their class is talagang masanay sila,” he said.

(The children are not used to wearing face masks when they are inside their homes so they need to be reminded of the requirement to wear face masks inside their classrooms.)

Garma also said the teachers had to constantly remind their students to observe physical distancing.

“Dahil po sa excitement ng mga bata, hindi po maiwasan na they tend to congregate and to really touch each other because of the excitement to interact and to play with their classmates so ito po yung isang bagay na nahirapan yung teachers natin,” he said.

(Because of the children's excitement, they tend to congregate and to really touch each other. They tend to interact and play with their classmates. So this is another challenge to teachers.)

Furthermore, Garma said the three to five-hour class is not sufficient for students to finish their activities.

“Because to the limited time as many have validated this our data that we have gathered learners hardly finish the activities given by the teachers,” he said.

As of December 15, Garma’s presentation indicated that 287 schools participated in the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes. —LBG, GMA News