MEYCAUYAN COLLEGE

Bulacan, Philippines

GRADUATE SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

THE NEW NORMAL: A CHALLENGE TO THE BASIC EDUCATION INSTITUITIONS IN

THE PHILIPPINES
I. Introduction

The 2019 nCoV outbreak was declared a public-health emergency by the World Health Organization on
30 January that should be of concern to the international community. The WHO stated that their main
reason for this statement was the concern that the virus could start spreading to weaker countries The
Disease Controlling Centers have indicated that the virus is spreading from person to person in China and
elsewhere. Tough or sneeze, release viral particles and touch and shakes of hands and others are popular
for spreading the virus from an infected to healthy people. In certain areas of the world, the number of
infections and deaths is growing. Self-isolation, social distancing, wearing of face mask, contact tracing,
hand-washing and surface cleaning is recommended by the World Health Organization.

The post-COVID-19 started to be called the “new normal”. It creates effects and impacts on almost all
sectors especially for educational institutions. In order to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,
several countries across the world have temporarily closed educational institutions. With more than 28
million students in the Philippines, this closure has impacted over 1.2 billion students worldwide.
Educational leaders decided to adopt the “new normal” in education. On June 9,2020, a DepEd Order
Number 12, Series of 2020 (D.O 12, S. 2020) on the “Adoption of the Basic Education Learning
Continuity Plan for School Year 2020-2021 in Light of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” was
released by a DepEd National Office that provides various alternative learning modalities replacing the
conventional face-to-face. The sudden shift created a debate in the Philippines citing the conditions of the
learners. The general condition of children in the public school sends a message of inequality with the
DepEd desire to “no left behind”.

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced stress for educational institutions to constantly provide students
in all nations with effective and essential learning. This paper discusses the issues facing basic education
institutions in the Philippines, as well as the Department of Education's response to this crisis.
II. Body

Policymakers around the globe have issued steps and guidelines to enforce physical distancing in order to
flatten the curve. IATF allowed the school staffs to wear face masks and ensure a physical distance from
each other. Hygienic procedures, hygiene precautions and other precautionary steps such as contact
tracing, foot bathing, sanitation and daily handwashing would need to be closely observed.

The formation of DepEd Order Number 8 Series 2020 (D.O. No.8 S. 2020) also known as "Guidelines on
Enrolment for the School Year 2020-2021 in the Context of the Public Health Emergency due to COVID-
19" which offers guidelines for various learning modalities for parents and school members to minimize
student and teacher exposure to COVID-19. In support of this the implementation of the Basic Education-
Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) by the Department of Education included the adoption of the Most
Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs) as one of the crucial preparations for the new school year's
opening. DepEd Secretary Ms. Leonor M. Briones stressed that the department's solution to the pandemic
was the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) at the time of COVID-19.

Basic Education Institutions have an option on the teaching and learning modality. However, not all
academic institutions are prepared and have the resources to adopt the online teaching. To determine the
learning needs of a learner, teachers distribute the Learner Enrolment Survey Form (LESF) it is a process
of selecting the learning modality to be used that must be carried out. Self-learning modules have been
prepared and developed in regions all over the Philippines. These materials come in written format to
make them more accessible to remote areas that have internet access issues. Distance learning is also one
of the modalities of online learning. Some teachers have undergone various trainings on how to navigate
explore and made use of the online learning delivery. They can present lessons and learners participate
and interact to the learners through the virtual classroom in the safety of their homes. However, this
online learning delivery burden to the poor students and challenging to many teachers especially those
who are in their 50s.

The role of the teacher in the new normal plays a big part on the teaching and learning process and
expanded as compared to the new normal classroom set-up. Even the teachers are working at home, they
must be available at all times in case of queries from the students and parents. Saxena and Saxena (2020)
developed a framework as to the role of teachers during the pandemic as shown in the Figure 1. It
highlights the teaching levels for effective learning which enable to unfold the fears and mysteries of
immature learners.
 Figure 1. Teaching levels for effective learning

Activities should be conducted to help preschool children learn the protocols of their safety during any
pandemic, e.g. hand washing, social distancing and eliminating handshakes. Secondary students will be
asked, by means of public poster displays, forums to enable them to express and share their thoughts, to
create their own groups and platforms to raise awareness among their friends, families and other
community members. Bower, Dalgarno and Kennedy (2013) found that the main challenge in blended
learning were communication and split attention. The teacher is largely responsible for alleviating
children's anxiety and worries. Since students are accustomed to interacting face to face with the teacher,
abrupt transition to the new method is very difficult. It needs to be correctly oriented and familiar with the
current standard. The learners must be motivated, with the help of their parents or guardian, to adopt the
modern modality of education and to appreciate their lessons at their own pace. The Department of
Education reinforces mental health awareness campaign by conducting webinars thru Facebook and
YouTube for learners, parents, teaching and non-teaching personnel. In the new normal, learning on the
part of the students is a drastic change be it online class using a platform or offline classes through
independent learning.

Parents also play a significant part in new normal schooling and learning. The role of parents in virtual
learning is significant according to Kuruvilla (2020). Since students are at home. They must track their
child's growth and success on a regular basis. At the end of the day, teachers could not obtain the highest
outcomes without the support of parents. This new norm kind of teaching should be pushed by parents.
The schools in each area have prepared meetings and orientations for parents in order to further appease
the worries and anxieties of parents.

III. Conclusion

Many of them even said that learning different concepts during online/modular learning is difficult, how
much more. Feedback from students and parents is required in this case to find significant gaps to
enhance the modality of learning selected. The challenges and questions posed and proposed different
alternatives to the new standard. The abrupt transition in the modalities of schooling and learning added
stress and strain on pupils, parents and teachers. The choice is to operate from home more competitively,
when multiple individuals and even remaining companies are competing over such unusual jobs.

Additional charges are attached to the learning continuity plan, health and safety protocols, since strict
compliance is essential and implementation is immediate. It was a tedious process completed in no time
that the Department of Education gave guidelines on how to prepare for all class-opening requirements.
Although proactive training preparations for students are in the new normal, the cooperation of the entire
community is very important during the period of crisis because all these preparations will not succeed
without the support of the different stakeholders.

These concerns must be addressed by all education institutions and plans and procedures for
implementing the new standards must be evaluated carefully. In these difficult times, collaboration is the
most important. The challenge is how quality education can be provided and delivered, and in what
measure will we be prepared for another crisis in future. There must be crucial decisions to take during
this time of crisis. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to its impact on various sectors
like education it would be good for the Government to be proactive.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a lot of life and livelihood disruptions that have never happened.
Prior to that some of threats to our physical, mental or social or physical health have been affected. While
other threats have raised a lot of questions within us about our way of life However there are many
challenges and expected opportunities which could give our lives and our community inspiration. The
new norm needs effective and efficient solutions and platforms to develop. Let’s give them the chance to
make the change.
References

Department of Education (2020a). Adoption of the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan for School
Year 2020-2021 in the Light of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Retrieved from
(https://www.deped.gov.ph/wpcontent/uploads/2020/06/DO_s2020_012.pdf).

Department of Education (2020b). Guidelines on Enrollment for School Year 2020-2021 in the Context
of the Public Health Emergency due to COVID-19. At:

(https://www.deped.gov.ph/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/DO_s2020_008-Guidelines-onEnrollment-for-
SY-2020-2021.pdf).

Department of Education (2020c). DepEd prepares Self-Learning Modules for education’s new normal.
At:

(https://www.deped.gov.ph/2020/07/02/deped-prepares-selflearning-modules-for-educations-new-
normal/)

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