ONLINE LEARNING: END OR EXTEND?

Not all anniversaries are happy occasions.

It’s been a year, on March 10 the year 2020 when the government declared a one-week suspension of the face-to-face classes in all levels in the National Capital Region (NCR) due to the threat of spreading of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Philippines. Afterward, other areas near the NCR also suspended their classes, and eventually, it became a long-term nationwide class suspension until it became a year of pure online classes. The shift to online classes has proven to be challenging for both students and teachers. It absolutely changes the student’s routine and their studies. In a span of a year, students’ best friends are Google meet, Zoom, Google Drive, Google Classroom, and other Learning Management systems (LMS). Last February 28, 2021, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China called Sinovac’s CoronaVac arrived in the Philippines. "There is light at the end of the tunnel. That is light at the end of the tunnel," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview with PTV. Can the arrival of these thousands of vaccines be the go-light for the students to continue their studies outside their houses and go back to face-to-face classes in schools and universities?

Last night, I asked my closest friends if they want to go back or not to the university because there are vaccines already, all of them said “No not yet, we are not ready as well as the government” even they truly miss those moments interacting with their classmates and teachers in-person. Because of distance learning, students are facing difficulties almost every day because there are not fully prepared for it and they have similar problems such as slow internet connection, incomplete or lack of resources that are needed in online classes. However, these reasons cannot be a basis to immediately decide and carry through the reopen the face-to-face classes. Even there are vaccines already here in the Philippines; there is no assurance that we are free from the virus and to let our guards down. According to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC), children can also spread the virus to others and can get severely ill just like adults. We can’t let the children and students be at risk who are more prone and become super-spreaders of the COVID-19 virus. Instead of thinking about when to implement the resumption of normal learning, the Government and Education sector should pay their attention first in addressing the concerns regarding the lack of classrooms, school nurses, and health facilities in schools. On March 16, 2021, the Department of Health reported that there are 4,437 new COVID cases here in the Philippines, and continue to climb up. This report can contribute as a warning sign for us to not pursue the plan of going back to school.

Despite having the longest, strict lockdown and arrivals of vaccines here in the Philippines, we can’t control the spreading of the virus and the rising up of infected people. Due to this threat, several local governments imposed earlier curfew hours and some were placed under localized lockdown. Okay here we go again… Evidently, the pandemic data shows it, Government should step up their game in an effective response to this COVID-19 pandemic. Inconsistent protocols and unclear rules result in poor implementation and higher cases. Frontlines are exhausted, people are losing their jobs and risking their lives to get to work, and students are struggling in all aspects of personal health due to online classes. As a student, I recall a year of virtually studying and taking classes online, I can say that the new distance learning is not the problem at all now but the Government. Just to think that in a span of a year when they suspended the face-to-face classes, here we are, almost the same last year, we could do better than this. This is definitely a not-so-happy anniversary.