SYNTHESIS / REACTION ON THE NATIONAL STUDENT ORIENTATION ON THE GOING

BACK TO SCHOOL THROUGH LIMITED FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES

At the time of pandemic, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of
e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. As a student I had
a hard time adjusting to it at first, but then as time goes by, I’m getting used to it. Now, last
February there was this Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2021 – 001 signed by DOH secretary
and CHED chairman, and approved by the president which states about the conduct of limited
face-to-face classes under certain circumstances. As a student, I can say that there is a big
difference between online learning and face-to-face learning. Before, when I was still adjusting
to the new normal of education, if you ask me to choose between the two, I would choose the
face-to-face learning because in online, sometimes I can’t avoid the sudden lost of connectivity.
Now that I’m getting used to it already, if you ask me again to choose between the two, I think I
would prefer the online learning especially in this time of pandemic. I will state my reasons in
this paper.

First, the transportation costs. If we push through limited face-to-face class, the
transportation cost is one of the problems for us students whose school is far from home
especially the ones who are not financially stable. I can’t go to class having the hard time to
budget the small amount of money. It is a problem to us because we are not one of those
fortunate students which financially stable and have their own vehicle to ride to. Second, we
have to follow some health protocols. When we say health protocols that includes wearing
facemask and face shield, maybe this is not a problem to most people but for me it is. Because
every time I wear facemask and face shield, I had the hard time breathing and sometimes I can
feel dizziness because of headache. In that case I don’t think I can still learn, having headache
will distract me or will be a hindrance for me to learn. Third, they said that the school is safe, but
how about the journey of the students in coming to school especially the less fortunate who
have to commute just to reach the school premises? It is not guaranteed because we don’t
know what will happen during those time in the vehicle with different passengers. I still believe in
the saying that health is wealth. Lastly, the classrooms in our school is not enough. Part of the
health protocols is social distancing which means limited students will be in one classroom.
Since there are many students, their only choice will be conducting classes by batch which
means that it will take longer time for us to finish one semester. This is not just a burden for us
students but also to the instructors.

For now, I don’t think I would be ready for face-to-face classes again because that
means that I have to adjust again. I don’t want to adjust again because that is just another
waste of time. I’m okay with the online class now, because I’m already used to it, I can deal with
it now. They said that there are also lots of disadvantages in online learning, some of it is
because the students can surf the net for answers or will resort to cheating, but that’s not a
problem of the teacher anymore, that is the student’s problem because it’s not the teacher that
will suffer in the future but the student. They will suffer as a consequence for their wrong doing.
We came to school not just for high grade, we came to school to learn. It will be their choice if
they would choose the right path or not. And there are also advantages in online classes, one of
those is the teacher would be able to record their discussion which means that the student can
hear the discussion again if ever they did not able to concentrate during the discussion.
 In conclusion, in this time of pandemic, it is better if we will just continue with the
distance learning. Online education is a viable alternative under the current circumstances.
Online learning is a flexible and effective source of teaching and learning for the fact that this
helps in distant learning with easy administration and accessibility along with less use resource
and time. Regardless of time limit, students can easily access the learning material. We also
become self-directed learners, which is an important competency for encouraging lifelong
learning among accountancy students. Online learning modalities encourage student-centered
learning and they are easily manageable during this pandemic situation. It started as emergency
remote learning and with further investments we can overcome any limitations.