DepEd: Over 377K students 'very high risk' to further learning losses due to class suspensions

A total of 377,729 Filipino learners are very likely to suffer further learning losses due to the class disruptions caused by typhoons and other natural disasters, the Department of Education (DepEd) said Wednesday.

According to DepEd, 239 schools nationwide are considered “very high risk” to further learning losses because of the class suspensions, while 4,771 schools with 3,865,903 learners are categorized as “high risk.”

The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has recorded 35 class suspensions in the current school year—-the highest number of school days lost mainly due to the weather disturbances.

The Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon also recorded at least 29 class disruptions each, with a few of them caused by human-induced hazards like fire.

With this, Education Secretary Sonny Angara convened the National Management Committee (ManComm) to explore interventions for the possible learning losses among affected students.

In October, amid the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, Angara admitted to having concerns about suspension of face-to-face classes due to natural disasters as it may result in further learning losses.

“Actually, nababahala na kami. So, ginawa namin is pina-collate na namin ano ‘yung number of missed number of classes. Tapos ilan ‘yung na napilitan na ma-cancel. Of those, ilan na, let's say, sabi mong nasa 20 ‘yun, ilan na ‘yung na-make up nung bata,” he told reporters.

(Actually, we are worried. So, what we did is we collated the number of missed classes then determined how many of those were forced to cancel. If there are 20 missed classes, we want to know how many make-up classes were already taken by the child.)

“Baka umabot na kasi sa punto na sobrang dami na ‘yung na-miss na [klase] hindi na nila ma-recover. So ‘yun ang concern namin ngayon dahil parang napapadalas na ‘yung mga bagyo at talagang ang importante diyan ay hindi learning loss ang nangyayari. Talagang kahit nasa bahay, merong pakinabang para sa mga estudyante sana,” he added.

(We fear that it may reach a point where there are so many missed classes and these can’t no longer be recovered. So that's our concern now because it seems like the storms are getting more frequent. The important thing here is that there’s no learning loss and even at home, they can still study.)

DepEd said earlier this month that it will start implementing the Dynamic Learning Program (DLP) initiative designed to address class disruptions caused by natural disasters and other challenges “by promoting independent, resource-efficient learning.”

With this, affected schools will have the flexibility to conduct make-up classes and utilize DLP learning activity sheets in temporary learning spaces. These activity sheets are designed to be “simple, targeted, and adaptable,” said the agency.

The program’s pilot implementation will begin this November in disaster-affected schools in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol Region, and CAR. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News