The Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented hurdles to the country's

system. The sudden outbreak of the virus led to the closures of schools,
universities, and colleges. On top of that, many agencies were negatively affected.
Our education system is undoubtedly one of the agencies that suffered a lot
because of the damage brought by the pandemic.
As a student who is used to face-to-face classes, it is not easy to adjust. I am
used to our teachers being around and our classmate's presence. Before the
pandemic, every school day was a moment of growth. Continuous personal human
interactions kept us active.
According to UNESCO, it has been estimated since March 2020 that a total
of 1.6 billion children were affected by worldwide school closures due to the covid
19 pandemic.
In our country, the policy imposed by president Duterte was no vaccine, no
classes. This made the Philippines lag behind. Both the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have struggled to
stay on track. Quality education, good health and well-being, and universal
primary education were all aims that were barely met. Mental health problems
affect children of all ages, and disadvantaged children receive inadequate
schooling. After 20 months of pandemic prevention measures, our country remains
reliant on distance learning. Educators fear that prolonged closure has a negative
effect on the student's ability to learn, impacting their future just a time when our
country needs a young, well-educated workforce to resume the economic growth it
was enjoying before the pandemic hit.
Moreover, the effect of the pandemic on the scholastic achievements of the
students is significant, and some include the future impact on their mental health,
rise in dropout rates, and decreased literacy. The world bank estimates that the
number of children age ten and below, from low to middle-income countries, who
cannot read simple terms has risen from 53% prior to the pandemic to 70% today.
As an academic achiever, I feel that remote learning is inferior to in-person
classes. The playing field becomes small, and the interactions are so limited. The
idea of expressing oneself fully cannot be completely attained.
The quality of life during this pandemic depends on self-discipline backed
up by scientific discoveries and inventions. How can I promote the quality of life?
First, I will arm myself with useful information about the history of the virus, limit
its spread, and get the vaccine.
Science and technology were crucial in our daily lives, particularly during
the middle of the pandemic. Teachers and students communicated with the use of
computers and other gadgets. The widespread availability of vaccines allows us to
enjoy the outdoors and, hopefully, the reopening of schools.
If I am properly informed, I can disseminate the information to my family
and my classmates to help obtain herd immunity. I already vaccinated, but prior to
the fake news or so-called "infodemics" that circulated, having a job will worsen
one's health condition, or the vaccine might cause outright death.
 In the global scene, the UN commission of science and technology for
development came up with an international collaboration under the principle of
open science. Knowledge, information, evidence, and data are made freely,
acceptable, and available. Collaborative arrangements of open science, especially
in mapping the virus' genome, helped develop the covid-19 vaccine being
administered in various countries.
To conclude, the Philippines along with its education system has definitely
suffered greatly as a result of the global epidemic, and science and technology are
truly the saving grace that we all require in this time of trouble. It is not difficult to
return to the lifestyles we had as students and citizens of our country through it.
This is Freya Zinnia L. Ganigan, a grade 7 student from Mother Goose
Special School System, Inc. Good morning everyone.