In-person classes challenges: ‘Unreadiness’ of students, face masks

FILE PHOTO: Learners of Napo Elementary School in Barangay Napo, Linamon, Lanao del Norte are separated with makeshift cubicles as face-to-face classes start on Monday, November 15, 2021. (Divina M. Suson)

MANILA, Philippines — Audibility issues due to the use of face masks and the “unreadiness” of some students for in-person learning were some of the challenges faced during the first weeks that limited in-person or “face-to-face” classes were held in the country, an official of the Department of Education (DepEd) told a Senate panel.

During a hearing of the Senate basic education committee on Friday, DepEd Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma presented a list of challenges faced by schools on the ground.

Garma said the “muffled effect” of face masks, affects how students hear their teachers’ learning instructions.

“The difficulty to hear the learners and the teachers…yung [the] audibility ng kanilang [of their] instruction is really hampered or impeded because of the muffled effect of the face mask,” Garma said.

“Yan po yung isang bagay na titignan natin  [That is one of the things we are looking into] on really how to address this issue,” he added.

Garma said there was initially a problem with schools requiring face shields.

“Early on we have already reminded all our regional directors that again, hindi requirement, based on the guidelines set by the joint memorandum circular, hindi required ang face shields and it’s very impractical for children to use face shields,” he said.

“So ‘di po nirerequire ‘yan, kaya later on, di na rin po pinasusuot ‘yan [So that’s no longer required, it’s not required to be worn],” he added.

As of Dec. 15, Garma said there is a total of 287 schools participating in the limited implementation of face-to-face classes, 265 of which are public schools while 22 are private.

‘Unreadiness,’ separation anxiety

According to Garma, the “unreadiness” of students, particularly those in  Kindergarten and Grade 1 levels, also posed a challenge.

“Because ito po ng Kinder and Grade 1, these are the children who have not set foot on a school, because ito po yung inabutan na na wala tayong school. So medyo naninibago po yung mga bata to go to classes,” he said.

Some of them also “experienced separation anxiety,” Garma added.

“Marami pa ring nagiyakan and marami pa rin hong ayaw magpaiwan [Many students still cried for their parents, many still don’t want their parents to leave],” the DepEd official said.

“It becomes a challenge somehow because we don’t allow the parents to be in the school premises as much as possible to minimize exposure. The teachers really have to manage and handle this challenge,” he added.

The Senate panel was also told that schools participating in the limited in-person classes noted “behavioral issues” among students with regards to keeping up with physically distancing protocols.

“Hindi naman po ito yung adverse behavior. But really 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,” Garma said.

(It’s not really an adverse behavior. But it’s really because of the excitement of the kids, it can’t be avoided that they tend to congregate and to really touch each other because of the excitement to interact and to play with their classmates.)

“Ito po yung isang bagay na nahirapan yung mga teachers natin because aside from really focusing on the learning delivery, kasama na po sa parte ng pagtuturo niya ay yung constant reminder to our learners to observe the physical distancing,” he added.

(This is one of the things that challenges the teachers because aside from really focusing on the learning delivery, part of their job now includes the constant reminder to our learners to observe the physical distancing.)

The pilot run of in-person classes will be implemented up to the end of this month but the DepEd is hoping it will expand by January next year.

A DepEd memorandum dated Dec. 9, 2021, directs all public and private schools to prepare for the implementation of the expanded phase of the face-to-face classes targeted to start in early 2022.

Based on the memo, the expanded phase shall cover all grade levels from Kinder to Grade 12.

/MUF