Baquiran, Crize Vherly D.

RESEARCH I
BA PHILO III

Summary on The Philippine Higher Education Sector in the Time of COVID-19 by

Jeremiah Joven B. Joaquin, Hazel T Biana, and Mark Anthony Dacela

The COVID-19 Pandemic was a huge challenge on different education institutions in the
Philippines due to the implementation of a nation-wide quarantine which seeks to limit the rate
and frequency of transmission of the virus. Although other governments overseas opted to
declare a series of academic freezes, the government authorities in charge of our education,
which are the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED)
still pursued to continue the flow of education despite the crisis being faced by our nation. As it
was stated by Deped the Secretary that “Education must continue even in times of crisis
whether it may be a calamity, disaster, emergency, quarantine, or even war” (Department of
Education, 2020, p. 2). The CHED on the other hand, then advised different Higher Education
Institutions to the “deployment of available flexible learning and other alternative modes of
delivery in lieu of on campus learning” (Commission on Higher Education, 2020, p. 2). Thus,
forcing different Higher Educational Institutions to implement their own specific policies to adapt
to the new learning environment. These then led to the implementation of the synchronous and
asynchronous online based-learning, as well as, the modular-based-learning. It would seem that
online learning is the only viable way to continue learning at a distance. This, however, seems to
rest on a mistaken assumption. It should be emphasized that online learning is just one mode of
distance education (Joaquin, et al. p. 2). Adding to that, distance education is broadly
characterized as any form of learning experience where the learner and the instructor are
physically separated from each other [(not only by place but also by time)(Joaquin, et al. p. 2)].
Online based learning is already a mode of learning before even the pandemic occurred, for the
purpose of catering to the type of learning set-up that separates both the student and the
teacher by time and by place, such as online courses and seminars being offered digitally by
multiple national and overseas educational institutions. In theory, it is the most ideal mode of
learning in the present settings since face-to-face learning was halted. However, difficulties are
being met by multiple Higher Educational Institutions, as well as being faced with opposition
against them.

Different backlashes manifested all throughout the duration of the new learning mode
since it was not smooth. It affected both the teacher and the student in coping with the new
setting. It emphasized a tremendous amount of pressure on them which led to certain
backlashes that are rooted in stress. “Adding more workload for the students increases their
burden and contradicts the purpose of the lockdown, which is to help their families prepare and
adjust to the situation at hand.” Finally, there is an issue about the “lack of environments
conducive to learning at home and the effectiveness of the online lectures” (Bagayas, 2020, p
2). The students and the faculty are bombarded with requirements that must be met within a
specific period of time (even though students are encouraged to learn at their own pace).
These led to different movements (such as “No student left behind”, “No to Online Class”, “No
School Left behind”, etc.) in the form of demonstrations and rallies, from the student body of
different universities to gather in unison with the hope of their petition being acknowledged.
While some of their petitions are being heard, it is not enough for the main problem is not being
addressed, which is the inadequacy of our education system on how it responded during the
pandemic. A “digital divide” was felt among the learners who have access and who do not have
access to Online Learning since having a stable connection, or even an internet connection, is a
privilege. People in the urban area have access to decent signal and electricity while on the
other hand, those who live in the far-flung areas, especially those in the rural areas, are even
considered fortunate to at least have a poor reception. Striving to have an authentic learning
environment in a virtual setting seems unnatural which makes it awkward to the learner and the
mentor to engage in learning. Ineffectiveness is felt among them since face-to-face learning is
thrice effective than being purely online due to its limitation by being suspended in a virtual
engagement. Despite these backlashes from the public, mitigations were conducted by Higher
Education Institutions to serves as counter-measures to lessen the inefficacy of Online Learning
in Education like the integration of Online and Modular base learning, where the learner could
choose between the studying online or be provided with physical materials that would help them
in their study without having to undergo the hassle of going online. Adding to that is the airing of
self-learning modules via mass media such as television and radio. The Philippines is not the
only country facing these problems. Its Southeast Asian neighbors have creatively responded to
the same challenges and started to pivot to a new era of education (Joacquin et al. p. 3). With
such methods of response to boost the effectiveness of the new mode of learning, a
cross-examine of counter-measures were investigated between the Philippines, Thailand,
Indonesia, and Vietnam (All of these are developing countries). Though there are variations and
uniqueness in their methods, their purposes are pretty much the same which is to lessen the
damages to learning being done by the Pandemic. Dedicating a television channel exclusively
for learning, partnering with international companies to open a free online course that would be
undertaken by the learner as a part of their curriculum, using state-run or collaborating with
private media to air educational programs, and launching their own learning platforms. These
were still met with criticisms since it shows the limitations of a developing country that restricts
the capacity of the quality of its education. The opportunity to improve the way we think about
education and implement permanent and sustainable changes that will enhance the quality of
our educational systems. Moving forward, the Philippines needs a clear set of policies and
guidelines based on an innovative educational framework. This requires a careful and sincere
assessment of the country’s readiness to offer learning programs that demand more than the
traditional requirements (Joacquin et al. p. 5). Online Learning is just a mode of education and
not education in itself. It is a platform for a learner to utilize his/her advantage to enhance
his/her learning experience. Our country is not yet prepared to implement a nation-wide Online
Learning since going online is still a privilege and not a commodity for every learner. The
government in charge of our education system should collaborate with different educational
institutions to come up with adequate policies and framework that would not stagnate the
progress of our educational institution.
Joaquin, J. J., Biana, H. T., & Dacela, M. A. (2020). The Philippine Higher Education
Sector in the time of covid-19. Frontiers in Education, 5.
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.576371