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The Negative Effects of Distance Learning to the Academic

Performance of Senior High School Students in the Philippines

Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

by

Nathanael Isaac Fuentes

Research Paper
English 10

December 2022
 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

As we all know that COVID-19 rampaged around the globe, and the
deadly virus abruptly changed the education system of countries. The United Nations
in their “Policy Brief: Education During COVID-19 and Beyond” of August 2020“
mentioned “By mid-April 2020, 94 percent of learners worldwide were affected by the
pandemic, representing 1.58 billion children and youth, from pre-primary to higher
education, in 200 countries” (p. 5, 4th paragraph) 1. According to Johannesburg (2020), it
disrupted the education of students in the world leading over 102 countries to order
nationwide school closures mostly in the first quarter of 2020 2. These school closures
negatively impacted the students in numerous ways 3. Many of these learners thought it
would just be a short break from physically seeing their friends at school, but it wasn’t.

Focusing on the Philippines, the country closed schools and cut the school
year 2019 to 2020 by April of the same year (Asia Society, n.d.).To ensure the health of
the students and prevent widespread infections, DepEd officially declared that all
schools were to use distance learning as a mode of learning for the school year 2020 to
2021 (DepEd, 2020). These learning strategies and modalities varied depending on the
school’s location and student’s situation as mentioned in their Learning Continuity Plan
or LCP4 (DepEd, 2020). SY 2020-2021 formally started on October 5, 2020 (The
Philippine Star, 2020). As the school year started, as well showed loads of problems
and challenges encountered by these learners.

1
https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/08/
sg_policy_brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf
2
https://campaignforeducation.org/en/press-centre/coronavirus-dont-let-our-children-down
3
It affected effectively over 168 million children as out of school globally for almost a year from
school closures due to COVID-19, available at https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-19-and-school-closures-
one-year-education-disruption .And, it says 86% of children primary education were out of school in countries
with low human development, available at
https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/08/sg_policy_brief_covid-
19_and_education_august_2020.pdf
4
They based on the “Risk Severity Grading and Risk-based Public Health Standards provided by
DOH Administrative Order No. 2020-0015, dated April 27, 2020, with the subject “Guidelines on the Risk-Based
Public Health Standards for COVID-19 Mitigation.” The risk severity grading has been applied by Executive Order
No. 11210, issued by the President on April 30, 2020” (DepEd, 2020), available at https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-
content/uploads/2020/07/DepEd_LCP_July3.pdf
 Distance learning impacted the performance of students in the Philippines
when Covid was at its peak. Their performance was deeply affected due to the
challenges, problems, and issues faced with distance learning. Covid-19 harmed
Filipino children’s mental and psychological well-being as they struggled in adapting to
the new learning environment, taking into consideration that these learners are
distracted with social media and gaming (Embudo, 2021). Thus, they showed lack of
motivation in learning with the new modalities.

The researcher aims to shed light on the factors that affected senior high
students’ performance majorly on the inequalities, challenges, and problems faced in
distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. The paper intends
to show the other factors that affected the student’s performance, defining and stating
the effects on it to these learners. And, we slide on to the major causes that negatively
influence their academic performance. The researcher then bridges the relativity of all
the factors on how it affected the mental health and performance of these students.

CHAPTER II: BODY

DISTANCE LEARNING MODALITIES ON HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS:

Modular Distance Learning was implemented in the school year 2020-

2021, in the Basic Learning Continuity Plan of DepEd (DepEd, 2020). They are given
Self-Learning Modules (SLMs) for them to learn and finish on their own through physical
or digital formats (Llego, 2020); they strictly follow the most essential learning
competencies (MELCs) implemented to equip learners with knowledge, skills, and
attitudes that they need for a lifetime even amidst the pandemic 5 (Keziah & Joel, 2022).
Teachers then are to monitor and guide the learners through email, text message, or
telephone.

5
For the definition of MELCs, you can go through it on https://www.teacherph.com/melcs-
guidelines/
 Online Distance Learning allows students to interact and communicate
with their teachers and classmates through a virtual classroom in real time, and it needs
internet connection stability and equipment (DepEd, 2020) (Llego, 2020). Online
Distance learning is divided into two parts Synchronous and Asynchronous.
Synchronous learning refers to students and teacher that attends at the same time for
discussions in a virtual classroom through the use of web and video-conferencing
applications in a given schedule per week (Wintemute, 2022). Asynchronous learning
on the other hand is where the students independently study on their own by learning
through online sources given by the teacher (DepEd, 2020). It’s also where the students
can access activities, assessments, and quizzes given through the Learning
Management System (LMS) of the school (Wintemute, 2022).

Blended learning fuses face-to-face instruction with one or more of the

following methods: online distance learning, modular distance learning, and TV/radio-
based instructions. Schools will be able to lessen social isolation and the number of
students who leave the house. Production of educational resources for educators and
students, as well as support from media organizations like TV and radio stations, are
essential for implementations (DepEd, 2020).

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY SENIOR HIGH

STUDENTS ON MODULAR, ONLINE, and BLENDED DISTANCE LEARNING:

MODULAR DISTANCE LEARNING

Senior High Students faced a lot of problems that cost their grades and
performance to lower down. A study shows the negative effects of modular distance
learning, it pointed out the limited interaction between the teacher and the students
(Dargo & Michelle, 2021). An interactive relationship between the students and the
teacher inside the school is essential to their confidence, interest, and academic
knowledge.6 This type of student-teacher relationship is important to their academic
performance and social-emotional skills, but was lost due to the pandemic. Because it
6
Available at https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/educ5202/chapter/the-importance-of-
student-teacher-relationships/
was lost, the learners weren’t able to ask their teachers about their questions and
concerns. A qualitative study shows a lot of positive responses showed in pie charts in
how dynamic and effective, how the learning flow, and how enjoyable the learning
experiences of these students were before the pandemic compared to the shift to MDL
(modular distance learning) (Duran & Sumagang, 2022) 7.

Dargo & Michelle (2021) pointed out that distractions at home could lead
the students to finish the modules slower. And, that negative effect is related with too
many activities in the module and their responsibilities at home as well. These students
are also busy with their responsibilities at home such in cleaning, cooking, washing
clothes, and more. Thus, they cannot focus well in doing the modules.

One last effect that aligns with the issues faced by Senior High Students is
there were errors in modules. It pointed out the errors of these SLMs which is evident
that not all of these modules underwent quality checks (Dargo & Michelle, 2021).

To give an example of it, a study shows the challenges encountered by

STEM students. One pie chart highlighted how these students adjusted to the new
learning environment, poor internet connection, lack of motivation, and time
management (refer to footnote 7). Another chart shows the responses of these students
the availability of teachers online, less time spent in learning, lack of support from family
members, and doing household chores while doing the modules (refer to footnote 7).
These challenges exacebates if they are on rural areas where internet connection is not
stable.

ONLINE DISTANCE LEARNING

Numerous students that were enrolled into this type of distance learning
cried out a lot of problems and challenges they faced. The very common problem they
encountered is unstable internet connection. It destroys the learning flow of the students
during discussions. It caused them to miss sessions, lessons, and become demotivated
7
https://www.academia.edu/83327686/STEM_Students_Experiences_in_Modular_Distance_Lea
rning_Amidst_Pandemic_Basis_for_Academic_Interventions
and frustrated (Bacolod, Genanda et al., 2022), This problem occurs in the geographical
area where the students live. Take note as well these power outages due to weather
conditions caused them to lose connection. A respondent in a qualitative study stated “I
live in a remote area, so, it is hard for me to find a stable internet connection. It is hard
to keep in touch to the events like Google meetings, Messenger discussions” – student
13 (Rotas & Cahapay, 2020).

Most students only use a cellular phone while attending these lessons and
answering activities, however, some features in computers are not present in their
phones hence hindering them from fully learning. Some students did not have adequate
resources and equipment; some did not have internet wifi subscriptions and that’s why
they kept buying prepaid load subscriptions to keep in touch with the classes (Rotas &
Cahapay, 2020). The difference in the socio-economic status of these learners shows
the gaps and inequalities in online distance learning.

The students experienced confusion as the lesson hangs unclear points to

them. Rotas and Cahapay (2020) mentioned it may also be the cause of teachers
lacking experience in operating and handling classes digitally resulting in giving them
hard time creating learning materials in online teaching. This was a problem since
some of these teachers who are used to traditional methods lack digital literacy.

Overloaded activities in the modules are also one major reason why the
performance of these learners degraded. It burdens them more because as mentioned
earlier in this paper, these students have responsibilities at home; even some of them
were working students. Because of it, they are overwhelmed with all activities given to
them, which compromises their physical and mental health (Rotas & Cahapay, 2020).

One last factor that the researcher wants to point out is the distractive
learning environment which caused the students from interacting with their teachers and
classmates during a session. They get distracted by the noise from their surroundings,
especially in urban areas which lose their focus and concentration. A respondent even
stated that he/she did not find their home as a comfortable learning environment online
(Rotas & Cahapay, 2020), and that is understandable because most of these students
do not have their own rooms, personal space and place for online classes (Gocotano,
Jerodiaz, et al., 2021).

BLENDED LEARNING
Blended learning had similar problems that modular and online distance
learning showed to students. It is the modality that combines face-to-face classes and
modular or online learning. The problem on the other hand is much more encountered
by teachers and the strategies in its implementation.

THE EFFECTS OF DISTANCE LEARNING TO THE PHYSICAL AND

MENTAL HEALTH OF SENIOR HIGH STUDENTS:

Depression and anxiety are two common mental health issues caused by
complex sets of emotional and psychological challenges faced by people every day
(Taking Charge of Your Health & Well-being, n.d.). And, it is stated, “Depression is a
mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and
decreased energy.” (Depression | Database Explored from Gale, n.d., para 1). Also,
“Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness.” (Anxiety, n.d., Summary para 1).
COVID-19 did not just affect people physically, but mentally as well; it starts to form
when worries and uncertainties over our minds.

These disorders are present in students too, moreover, they were isolated
inside their homes which prevented them from physical interaction with their peers and
teachers at school. It is stated, “based on a study by the Philippine One Health
University Network and the Southeast Asian One Health University Network released in
August 2021, showed that National Capital Region students experienced high levels of
stress with 19 percent, 22 percent admitted feeling depressive symptoms, 36 percent
admitted to anxiety, and close to 26 percent admitted to having a terrible time coping
with the pandemic’s impact.” Visco (2021, Filipinos living in the new normal para 3).
Distance learning took a toll on Filipino students’ mental health, it mostly happens in
online learning since stress in the eyes and mind covers them.

It sparked suicide cases due to online learning . As stated by Adonis

(2021) “In October 2020, SPARK monitored at least 13 cases of students who took their
lives, saying these were linked to the pressure they had to endure in trying to
accomplish their self-learning modules in time for the weekly deadline, along with their
difficulties in confronting the pandemic.” (Suicide cases para 3).

It is substantial that distance learning had bad effects on the mental health
of students, let alone senior high students where they experience extreme stress due to
overwhelming difficult lessons and activities and more. Distance learning compromised
their health due to them havinga a hard time adjusting to the new learning modalities
given by DepEd. It forms depression and anxiety inside them which is serious and
concerning to the public.

III. POSITION/STANDPOINT

The researcher shares his own opinion regarding where he stands on the
issue. “My opinion on this issue is that the education departments and sectors did not
prepare enough in planning and implementing distance learning regarding the
challenges and problems that would be encountered by students, especially those in
higher education where they are heavily burdened with the strand they chose. I know
that the COVID-19 outbreak abrupted the education systems in the world including our
country the Philippines, but as of right now, the higher authorities must learn from the
backlash and repercussions they got from implementing distance learning during the
pandemic. The government as well should investigate thoroughly the allocation of the
budget given to the Department of Education for the support of students and teachers.
The coronavirus disease brought stress and mental health issues to these students,
including me I also encountered some of these challenges and it is not easy. I am glad
that face-to-face classes were back for the school year 2022-2023. Next time, we
should address and resolve the problems and challenges faced by these students
during the pandemic because as the famous quote of Dr. Jose P. Rizal says, “Ang
Kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan.”

IV. CONCLUSION
To summarize the points the researcher attempted to substantiate. The
researcher discussed the modalities of distance learning implemented during the
pandemic. It also pointed out the problems, challenges, and inequalities faced by
students which are related to the experiences of senior high students that negatively
affected their performance. And, lastly, the researcher explained how COVID-19 and
distance learning affected the mental and physical health of these students. Now the
importance of this paper is that gives awareness to the readers on what students were
facing during the covid pandemic and how it is detrimental to their well-being.

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