Most people have lost their livelihoods and sources of income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has caused more than just this; schools also needed to be closed for the safety of the students and to prevent the spread of the disease. Schools will stay closed until it is safe to hold face-to-face classes. This means that students who have been affected by the pandemic will continue to be affected. During this pandemic, the government's help is inadequate to guarantee that all students receive quality education. We must all work together to recover as quickly as possible from this pandemic and restore quality education in our beloved country.


Grade school student Bhea Joy Roxas, center, uses a smartphone for online classes while her friends observe inside a passenger jeepney in Quezon City on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020.

            â€˜The Covid-19 pandemic has made everyone stay at home, but it has not stopped the world. People still need to work. Students need to learn, and teachers need to teach’. This simply means that, despite the pandemic, students must continue their studies. As a result, many students will suffer since some students are unable to buy or acquire the required resources for distance learning. ‘91% of students worldwide are impacted by temporary school closures’. This simply goes to show that not all students will receive the same quality of education because of the pandemic. As a result, students will not benefit from distance learning. ‘DepEd identifies 59 schools for pilot in-person classes starting Nov. 15’. With this response from the Department of Education, there is hope that we will have face-to-face classes soon. ‘21,800,974 (19.78%) Filipinos fully vaccinated, as of October 3, 2021’. To ensure reduced risk among students and teachers, they should first be vaccinated before conducting face-to-face classes. But, even if it seems that face-to-face classes will not be happen anytime soon, we must not give up hope. Instead, we should all be good citizens and follow safety protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We also need to help each other in these difficult times. We must help other students or teachers with whatever resources we have. Since I believe that our ‘bayanihan' can help us overcome this pandemic.

            This pandemic has been difficult, and it has challenged all of us. Students and teachers have been through a lot as a result of the pandemic. But the most important lesson we will take away from this is how resilient we Filipinos are. We Filipinos even have time to smile or laugh throughout these difficult situatiuons, which I believe is wonderful, that we Filipinos are always optimistic. With our ‘bayanihan' and optimism, I hope we can overcome this pandemic and restore quality education to all Filipino students. We should invest in quality education to ensure a bright future.


References:

Bonz Magsambol. (2020, August 28). Back to school during a pandemic: Issues that need to be solved before October 5. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from Rappler website: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/explainers/school-opening-philippines-issues-need-solution-before-october-5-2020

AP. (2020, October 5). Remote-learning begins in coronavirus-hit Philippines. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from Arab News website: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1744326/world

‌Dinna Chan Vasquez, & Dinna Chan Vasquez. (2020, April 17). Online education during a pandemic | Dinna Chan Vasquez. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from BusinessMirror website: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/04/18/online-education-during-a-pandemic/

Rotary International. (2021). Educating in a pandemic and beyond. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from @rotary website: https://www.rotary.org/en/educating-in-a-pandemic-and-beyond

DepEd identifies 59 schools for pilot in-person classes starting Nov. 15. (2021). Retrieved October 6, 2021, from l!fe • The Philippine Star website: https://philstarlife.com/news-and-views/768665-deped-identifies-59-schools-for-pilot-in-person-classes-starting-nov-15

Rappler.com. (2021, April). TRACKER: The Philippines’ COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Retrieved October 6, 2021, from Rappler website: https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/data-documents/tracker-covid-19-vaccines-distribution-philippines