Not yet time to consider face-to-face classes

I’ve chosen the topic entitled, “Not yet time to consider face-to-face classes” proposed by
The Manila Times.

With every crisis comes deep challenges and opportunities for transformation—past
education crises have shown that it is possible to build back better. To help me reflect on
what some of these challenges and opportunities may be, I recently spoke to Jim Knight,
current member of the House of Lords, head of education for Tes Global, and former U.K.
schools’ minister; and to Vicki Phillips, current chief of education at the National Geographic
Society and a former U.S. superintendent of schools and state secretary of education. They
provide perspectives from inside and outside of government in the U.K. and U.S., though
their insights can likely help the many countries worldwide struggling to continue education
during the pandemic. Here are some risk and challenges of having face-to-face classes during
the pandemic:
1.) Distance learning will reinforce teaching and learning approaches that we know do
not work well.
2.) Educators will be overwhelmed and unsupported to do their jobs well.
3.) The protection and safety of children will be harder to safeguard.
4.) School closures will widen the equity gaps.
5.) Poor experiences with ed-tech during the pandemic will make it harder to get buy-in
later for good use of ed-tech.

The coronavirus covid19 pandemic crisis in Indonesia has caused all lectures to be conducted
online (online learning), so that all students have experienced face to face learning, blended
learning, and online learning. The purpose of this study is to determine student perceptions of
learning, which learning is most preferred by students between face-to-face learning, blended
learning, and online learning. The research method used is descriptive research with a
quantitative approach. Respondents were 100 students of Islamic Religious Education study
programs. The results showed that face to face learning was the most preferred choice by
students of the Islamic Religious Education Study Program in IAIN taken on, which is 78
students or at 78%, while a total of 20 students or 20% of the study was done in blended
learning, and only 2 students or 2% who chose online learning.

A child's first day of school—a landmark moment for the youngest students and their parents
around the world—has been delayed due to COVID-19 for an estimated 140 million young
minds, UNICEF said in a new analysis released as summer break comes to end in many parts
of the world.

The Philippines is one of the five countries in the world that have not started in-person
classes since the pandemic began, affecting the right to learn of more than 27 million Filipino
students. While new variants are causing a rise of infections, UNICEF is advocating for a
phased reopening of schools, beginning in low-risk areas. This can be done on a voluntary
basis with proper safety protocols in place.
"The first day of school is a landmark moment in a child's life—setting them off on a life-
changing path of personal learning and growth. Most of us can remember countless minor
details—what clothes we wore, our teacher's name, who we sat next to. But for millions of
children, that important day has been indefinitely postponed," said UNICEF Executive
Director Henrietta Fore. "As classes resume in many parts of the world, millions of first
graders have been waiting to see the inside of a classroom for over a year. Millions more may
not see one at all this school term. For the most vulnerable, their risk of never stepping into a
classroom in their lifetime is skyrocketing."

For an estimated eight million students around the globe—who should have been in the first
grade— the wait for their first day of in-person learning has been over a year and counting, as
they live in places where schools have been closed throughout the pandemic.

The first grade sets up the building blocks for all future learning, with introductions to
reading, writing, and math. It's also a period when in-person learning helps children gain
independence, adapt to new routines, and develop meaningful relationships with teachers and
students. In-person learning also enables teachers to identify and address learning delays,
mental health issues, and abuse that could negatively affect children’s well-being.

The worldwide school closures in early 2020 led to losses in learning that will not easily be
made up for even if schools quickly return to their prior performance levels. These losses will
have lasting economic impacts both on the affected students and on each nation unless they
are effectively remediated. While the precise learning losses are not yet known, existing
research suggests that the students in grades 1-12 affected by the closures might expect some
3 percent lower income over their entire lifetimes. For nations, the lower long-term growth
related to such losses might yield an average of 1.5 percent lower annual GDP for the
remainder of the century. These economic losses would grow if schools are unable to re-start
quickly. The economic losses will be more deeply felt by disadvantaged students. All
indications are that students whose families are less able to support out-of-school learning
will face larger learning losses than their more advantaged peers, which in turn will translate
into deeper losses of lifetime earnings. The present value of the economic losses to nations
reaches huge proportions. Just returning schools to where they were in 2019 will not avoid
such losses. Only making them better can. While a variety of approaches might be attempted,
existing research indicates that close attention to the modified re-opening of schools offers
strategies that could ameliorate the losses. Specifically, with the expected increase in video-
based instruction, matching the skills of the teaching force to the new range of tasks and
activities could quickly move schools to heightened performance. Additionally, because the
prior disruptions are likely to increase the variations in learning levels within individual
classrooms, pivoting to more individualized instruction could leave all students better off as
schools resume. As schools move to re-establish their programs even as the pandemic
continues, it is natural to focus considerable attention on the mechanics and logistics of safe
re-opening. But the long-term economic impacts also require serious attention, because the
losses already suffered demand more than the best of currently considered re-opening
approaches.
Dana said that while face-to-face classes are more effective than the distance learning system,
students would be safer in the current remote setup. (READ: Mistakes were made: Errors in
DepEd distance learning materials)

"Pass na muna ang school year na ito for face-to-face. Ipagpatuloy na lang muna kung paano
natin ito sinimulan. Pero sana ma-address nila ang mga kakulangan dito lalo na ang mga
resources," she said.
(Let's not do face-to-face classes this school year. Let's just continue first with how we
started. But I hope that they will be able to address the gaps, especially in resources.) For
Dana, the government must use the remaining months of the school year to strategize for the
safe return of students to school. In a statement on December 3, the Alliance of Concerned
Teachers said that the government should first address the gaps in health infrastructure in
schools before resuming face-to-face classes.

"How will the government ensure these given the big shortages in classrooms and teachers,
the lack of water supply and handwashing facilities in schools, and the glaring absence of
school nurses?" the group asked.

Classroom shortages have been a problem even before the pandemic. A class of 75 to 80
students were packed into one classroom supposedly meant for a class of only 40. To make
up for the lack of classrooms, class shifting had been implemented to accommodate enrollees
every year. (READ: Classroom shortages greet teachers, students in opening of classes). One
of the ideas being floated was to conduct classes in batches. For example, a class of 45 would
be divided into 3 batches. In a press briefing on Wednesday, December 16, Education
Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said that DepEd is giving its regional units the
"flexibility" to schedule their face-to-face classes, noting that students in the classroom
should be limited to only 15 to 20 students at a time.

But for Dana, this is another looming problem, considering that she handles 45 students in
her class and she teaches 7 subjects to her grade 1 students.

"That would mean that if there were 3 batches, we, teachers, would have to teach a subject
thrice. Our energy levels for the first batch would be different from the succeeding batches.
We would be tired by then. We might not have enough energy for the last batch. Students
will suffer," she said in a mix of Filipino and English. If the system will not be carefully
planned and thought out, things will not change for the better.

In conclusion, I do agree that this is not yet time to consider face-to-face to classes. We
should consider health before education. The best option we can have right now is to have
academic freeze and let the government make moves to minimize the covid cases—best is to
have the solution to this virus aside from having vaccinations.
 Not Yet Time to Consider Face-to-Face-Classes. (2021). The Manila Times.

Published. https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/09/04/opinion/editorial/not-yet-time-to-

consider-face-to-face-classes/1813438

 Top 10 Risks and Opportunities for Education in the Face of COVID-19. (2020).

Brookings. Published.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2020/04/10/top-10-

risks-and-opportunities-for-education-in-the-face-of-covid-19/

 Nasution, A. K. P., Surbakti, A. H., Zakaria, R., Wahyuningsih, S. K., & Daulay, L.

A. (2021). Face to Face Learning vs Blended Learning vs Online Learning (Student

Perception of Learning). Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1783(1), 012112.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1783/1/012112

 Filipino children continue missing education opportunities in another year of school

closure. (2021). Unicef. https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/filipino-

children-continue-missing-education-opportunities-another-year-school

 The Economic Impacts of Learning Losses. (2020).

https://www.oecd.org/education/The-economic-impacts-of-coronavirus-covid-19-

learning-losses.pdf

 Magsambol, B. (2020, December 17). Are PH schools ready for face-to-face classes

during pandemic? Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/are-

philippine-schools-ready-face-to-face-classes-covid-19-pandemic-yearend-2020