The Island’s Unsung Heroes 

Teachers and students alike struggle as they try to keep with the trends of education

amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In an educational system where consistency often shows itself

in alarming figures of low proficiency rates, the new normal setting of education calls the

attention of better planning and a satisfactory approach to distance learning.  

When the pandemic landed its first blow in the year 2020, the recent history that unfolded

since then flicked a switch in the status quo. The whole world lost all friendly contact, everyone

was advised to stay home, job workers were displaced and personal communication was cut

short. A world of difference slowly unveiled itself from a distance and the effects of the looming

threat that the crisis caused exponentially raised the absolute need of adaptive measures to higher

levels of national importance. Alongside national interests, education should also be prioritized.

Proposals of the academic calendar for school year 2020-2021 in DepEd public schools were

postponed because of piling appeals from the public for a reconsideration and was ultimately

moved in October 5th of the same year.

 In return, applications of what could work in today’s modern age were called into

question. Moreover, it ultimately rendered academic endeavours be reduced in a written

manuscript and online exercises of visual learning alike. As the call for a school opening became

the subject of online discourses and distant conversations, certain roles had to be taken on by the

teaching force. 

It wasn’t exactly how things were supposed to proceed. The non-traditional side to

educational learning instils values that demand for more than a compromise. The teaching staff

and members, both in public and private local institutions, were encouraged to learn new skills
that were expected of them to overcome in arguably a few attempts to cope with the desire of

bringing education back on track amidst the pandemic.

The Philippine Business for Education showed infographics presenting data of the current

state of Philippine education. According to the Program for International Student Assessment

(Pisa) 2018, 72% of 15-year-old Filipinos are perform poorly in the subjects reading, math, and

science. The decline in learning was highlighted by one out of four parents claiming that their

children are not doing well in the new setting. Junior high school students, despite failing to meet

satisfactory proficiency rates, were guaranteed a pass and advanced to the next grade level.

Among public schools, three out of four lack Internet access to use for the suggested blended or

distance learning method. 

In another infographic, it showed the figure of students that enrolled in the academic year

2020-2021. Sixty-six million enrolled in basic education; 63 million went for higher education;

and only 753,000 opted for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for the

year 2020. This year, a whopping 1.1 million students decided against school and 1,179 private

schools have closed in 2020. These numbers satisfied a similar report released by the World

Bank as a result of poor learning in the country.

On a survey conducted to the parents by DepEd on the school opening, results show that

modular learning is the most preferred type of learning material for their children. Modular

learning asks for written tasks either in printed or digitized form. ACT Secretary General

Raymond Basilio expressed his concern for teachers over missing efforts from composing

activity sheets that follow the module’s contents that the teachers have not yet seen, thus

becoming “forced to just base the activity sheets on last year’s lessons.” Basilio further explained

that they would “have no choice but to make do with what they have or else students will have
no materials to use” when classes start again. Also, the Secretary General relayed that schools

are also forced to raise their own funds in a short time to make up for the scarce reproduction

cost for learning materials. 

Everything has a seed of its opposite, for sure. Even though the direct efforts of

establishing a foundation in modern education anew is well-appreciated, this move would entail

a compromise in quality learning and the teachers would be left in a sorry condition as they are

left to fend for themselves and make do of inexperience, lack of appropriate equipment for use,

and infinite episodes of provoking reviews from parents and even students― those that should

know better than react unforgivingly. Still, this does not disrupt the efforts of teaching amidst the

pandemic.

In an online article shared by Radyo Pilipinas Virac Catanduanes on September 07, 2021,

it was highlighted that the Catanduanes State University (CatSU), headed by President Patrick

Allain T. Azanza, started a movement of giving out tablets to a number of students to equip their

needs for the new school year 2021-2022. He also added that the project was made possible by

joint efforts extended by private individuals and their compassion for young learners. The

initiative was successful and they intend to expand their aid to further the cause and provide

more CatSUans the accessibility to online learning. Indeed, such acts of empathy prove that unity

is inherent to Catandunganons. 

Catandunganon educators find ways to relieve burden and extend help to students who

voice out their own problems and lack of necessities to engage in the new setting. Besides being

a constant presence and a helping hand along the entirety of the new normal education, the

teaching force shows their understanding and genuine empathy in the kind ways that they can,

despite having to face their own struggles as well. 

 It is a common trend that learning the ropes with the latest technology gets challenging

when a decent chunk of the teaching population here in Catanduanes may be out of touch with

media navigation is present. Personal debacles, cognizant of external factors, may also interfere

with work and it may not be ideal in creating a conducive atmosphere in an otherwise yielding

environment that separates work and life in a fixed balance. However, a voice sounding from a

tiny speckle isn’t enough to find its chorus and instead catapult its reliance in the pursuit for

more time to prepare, reconvene, and engage in a healthy mixture of reality and work. Adamant

to take on an inevitable battle anyway, school then commenced with a flourish and predictions

coming true didn’t go by unheard of. Any record of mishaps and technical difficulty were put out

in the open and had been used for malicious intent and wrongful meanings. Understanding goes

both ways and in a situation where a single word is allowed to be taken out of context, one

should perceive the meaning of forgiveness to understand and educate one another instead. 

What truly is crucial at such a high time when perseverance and endless contributions are

overlooked upon once an honest mistake reveals itself is recognition and deep gratitude for those

that aspire to achieve their work’s purpose despite, by their own admission, falling short.

Catandunganons pride themselves to be famed, smiling examples of hope and unity when

faced with adversities time and time again. With such influence the COVID-19 pandemic holds,

despite the initial shock and turmoil that the people were put under, the impression stays― the

Catandunganons learn to rise above it all. After all, no crisis unfolds within the island without a

storm and leaves without learnings to impart for its next journey.  
 Singing Praises to Unsung Heroes 

As classes for public schools nationwide kick off, social media platforms overflow with

dissent towards schools and teachers for their shortcomings. They face scorn from people who

fail to realize how much of a burden the responsibility of salvaging an education system riddled

with massive loopholes truly is. 

With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic persisting, education all over the

country continues to be severely hampered. The Department of Education (DepEd) opted for the

learning modality of school year 2021-2022 to be predominantly modular and online like the

previous academic year for the safety of students. 

Following this development, a lot are worried that the problems experienced last school

year would continue to exist in the current one. Teachers’ groups Teachers’ Dignity Coalition

(TDC) and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) even went as far as to claim that DepEd is

still “not ready” for school opening as stated in a report by Manila Bulletin.

Regardless, classes were still declared ‘in session’ last September 13 following the

announcement of DepEd. To say it went smoothly would score one a perjury case in court.

TDC received tons of reports from teachers that were still waiting for the provided

modules days before the opening of classes. Some even resorted to printing and reproducing

modules through their own resources. ACT also reported that distance learning problems

“remain unsolved” as seen in their nationwide online survey.

On the local scene, there were also some hitches in module printing, distribution and

retrieval of some schools.

 Despite preparing months before the school opening, some students from a certain school

in Virac still experienced delays with their module distribution. Several senior high school

students from the said school stated that module distribution were rescheduled to September 17

instead of the announced September 13. There were also some missing modules set to be picked

up the following week as they were printed late.

Luckily, this problem is only a minor inconvenience and does not affect the learning of

students. An extension to the deadline of outputs easily solves this problem. However, this just

goes to show that schools really are unprepared for the opening of classes.

This further drives the point that DepEd has not put measures to combat the issues of the

previous school year. Though they try to put in place solutions to these problems, the answer

they come up with looks to be lackluster. The consequences of their whims show on the

bottommost of the education workforce hierarchy, the teachers.

It is clear as day that teachers are forced to bear the brunt of dealing with lapses in the

current education system.

It is in this regard that they deserve recognition and gratitude for their services. Without

them, the faulty school system we have in place would have collapsed by now.

Spearheading the struggle to continue quality education amid the pandemic, teachers

serve as frontliners in the war against COVID-19. Right now, their efforts are not as tangible as

of those in the medical field. However, it would come to fruition in due time.

After all, what they are trying to nurture is essentially the future of this world—the

youth. 
 Sadly, it is the same youth they are trying to safeguard that is now chewing their heads

off without acknowledging the hardships they go through to provide a semblance of quality

learning. 

Teachers who go out a lot for module retrievals and distribution constantly wade through

the threat of increasing COVID-19 cases whose overall victims tallied 1,273 as of September 15

based on a post from PHO Catanduanes. A lot of them are not even fully vaccinated yet. 

Educators are also the ones to face the direct wrath of inconvenienced parents, all on top

of being forced to find ways to connect to students that are off the radar or are missing in action. 

Nowadays, being a teacher is not just about teaching. It also entails establishing an online

connection with students, adapting accordingly to their struggles with the various learning

modalities and making sure every child learns what they need to despite the lack of face-to-face

interaction. 

People that invalidate the efforts of teachers under the guise of anything education-related

being their “job” should understand that the current duties imposed by DepEd upon them are far

beyond what they originally signed up for. 

DepEd ignored the warning of several teachers’ groups in its pursuit of providing

“quality” education. Now, teachers are forced to deal with the repercussions of their impatience

and face the scrutiny of the public. Just like old times.

Teachers serve both as torches that guide the youth through this dark time and columns

that prevent the collapse of a defective educational system. Perhaps this tone of aggression that

everyone has for them should be changed to melodies of understanding and sympathy. These

unsung heroes deserve that much.