Online Education: Not Inclined with Students

Topic: Online Education is just as good as Campus Education

Due to the ongoing global health crisis, educational institutions cannot conduct on-site classes as
a means to ensure that the health protocol established by the government is followed. Online
education (or distance-learning format) has been implemented in place of face-to-face lectures
and discussions. But, is it better than campus education?

Most students live in the rural parts Region I, and are therefore not fully suited to online classes,
specifically with the submission of online requirements. Several factors can cause fluctuating
signals in the said area that might affect the progress, such as the absence of telecommunication
towers or the distance of the area from the town proper, that can potentially terminate the
submission process in case the signal goes haywire.

With this in mind, some students are bound to prioritize their situation in this pandemic instead
of their online education, and vice versa. There are still some that fear getting an INC grade
because of mediocre performance in the previous term, and therefore are seeing those online
requirements as a means of redemption in hopes of passing the semester. However, certain
factors come into play (e.g. financial instability as a result of “no work, no income”) if talking
about the current status quo of the students.

Another dilemma worth noting is the accomplishment of school fees. Why do the students still
need to pay their respective fees (mostly school facility-based and instructor-based) if learning is
self-taught in the current situation? Parents no longer have a stable means of income because of
the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) that limits the movement of people to avoid mass
gatherings, and the school administrations STILL want to settle the figures? The now-desolated
facilities of the institutions are not even laid on by a finger, and the income of the instructors are
also at stake. They should also consider that not everyone is privileged as they think; in an
unforeseen crisis, everyone is at a total loss.

Returning to the circumstances that hinder the students’ learning, some do not have the necessary
devices to submit the required online activities. Some do not own a laptop or a personal
computer; smartphones are good alternatives, but not all models and brands can handle the
software and programs that a desktop interface can carry. That said, it is also worth considering
that phones are slower than computers in initiating tasks for productivity and utility purposes,
thus becoming another hindrance to the effectiveness of the so-called “online education.”

About the above statements, only those with the equipment and software will be able to come up
with quality outputs. On the part of those with resources (but to a bare minimum), it would be
unfair if the conditions in their area will accidentally butcher their outputs that can lead to low
ratings that can potentially cause them to flunk the subject matter.

Minorly Irresponsible: No Special Treatment for the Marginalized

Topics: Do minorities in a society deserve special treatment?

Are we responsible for feeding the poor?

Local government units need not give special treatment to the minorities of the society, as they
tend to pull an effective form of trick (or treachery in this case) on the benefits they gain from
LGU services. They use these funds as a means to live the luxurious lifestyle that they had before
the quarantine. Self-centeredness gets people nowhere; in fact, it is in no denial that this is
somewhat a practical way of digging up their graves; something that they have not come to
realize at an earlier point in time.

Ironically, those beneficiaries act as they worked hard for the funds that they have, whereas those
who are engaged in the workforce don't even brag about their achievements. Consequentially,
this creates a false feeling of entitlement bequeathed by being spoonfed with the resources. This
scenario has no room in the current status quo, and therefore should be lessened thoroughly.

Although the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), along with the
government, had constructed a solution in financial aid utilizing the Social Amelioration
Program (SAP), it created a rift as some people are fully qualified but do not garner the benefits
due to certain factors: a) these people only live by themselves and b) pension grants from private
agencies.

In connection with this, we are not responsible for feeding the poor. We are fully capable of
providing some help, but not to the point where these people eventually become abusive. They
need to work for their living and not solely depend on provided resources by their respective
local government units. But because of the unforeseen circumstance that is currently enveloping
the world into an economic downfall, they would not be able to cater to their needs properly.
Staying in the streets and sidewalks is nothing but a danger to them.

Before the pandemic and the Enhanced Community Quarantine, everyone had adequate funds for
their living. Currently, most of the people in the workforce had lost their jobs or are not given
their income due to the “no work, no pay” policy implemented by some companies and
corporations. Amid a crisis, we all suffer the same. At this point, it is completely regardless of
whether or not one has a suitable living condition; the enemy is a disease that is of a new species
of Coronavirus that affects the respiratory system.
As a mandate for local government units to monitor the process in which beneficiaries receive
and use their amelioration funds, they need to ensure that these funds are used by the people for
the betterment of their condition, and not for their leisurely desires. They need to formulate ways
in which they can invest the fund into something that will guarantee the return stocks tenfold to
sustain their status for a longer time. This will also ensure that several of the marginalized sector
work (independently) and eventually become a unified agent that will soon improve the state of
the country to foster a better future for the future generation.

Leap of Faith: People and Religion’s Distant Rift

Topic: Have people become too distant from religion today?

Lastly, people of today have already become distant from religion. There's no doubt that some
people today are considering science as the total absolution of what is deemed as truth. However,
certain aspects pertain to something abstract and idealistic insofar that people tend to overlook all
perspectives. They fail to have a glimpse of the spiritual side of things, therefore becoming
distant from religion and becoming overly reliant on the innovations brought about by science
and technology.

One factor that would constitute to this topic is the fact that technology is providing us with a
good life. The good life initially refers to a desirable state of living notably associated with
adherence to ethical and moral laws. It involves two different expressions; the quest for
luxury/wealth/material possessions, and the quest for adherence to the moral, ethical, legal, and
religious laws bound within a country or a state. Yes, people adhere to these ethics as a
prerequisite for the good life that they want to attain, but some of them do not even practice what
they preach.

Another factor that forms a fragment of ambivalence in the faith is the “falsified reality” (one’s
perspective of reality that involves happiness involving wealth and material possessions).
Unfortunately, this viewpoint could be effectively shut down by an unprecedented or untoward
incident that could cause the person to lose a fortune. Without faith, no one will be able to heal
spiritually (as there is a possibility of being traumatized or anxious after such incident) occurs.
The aforementioned scenarios are brought about by the advent of modernization, wherein
religion is left in the dust, and spirituality becomes part of a desolate landscape.

Tristan Jade C. Valdez

BA-POS 1-A
T/Th (1:00-2:30 PM)