Even with the blended learning setup for public schools, the Department of Education is encouraging parents to allow their children to have physical fitness activities.
“Men, women, and children should have continuous physical activities. We are not prohibited to continue with our physical exercises, which is needed by our body,” DepEd-Cordillera Education Support Services Division Chief Agustin Gumuwang said.
DepEd has included physical education in the self-learning modules with instructions on individual exercises for the learners to follow as well as self-assessment tools on their progress and understanding of the activities.
“These athletes know the exercises given by their coaches and some of them are communicating with their coaches online,” he said.
Even with the pandemic, student athletes continue their training pending the resumption of school-based sports activities.
“But up to now, there are still no guidelines from the central office on when to resume the school-based sports activities,” Gumawang added.
DepEd-sponsored sports events such as the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association meet, Palarong Pambansa, and the Philippine Sports Commission-led Batang Pinoy were cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the DepEd Bureau of Learner Support Services-School Sports Division has developed a sports manual for each of the 27 events played in the Palarong Pambansa.
The bureau aims to standardize the teaching and learning of sport events as it covers teaching approaches and techniques in sports, competition rules, and other information relevant to understanding the sports during the pandemic.
Baguio City National High School Football Team coach Ariston Bocalan is one of those tapped to create instructional videos for students and coaches in the field.
Bocalan has created original instructional videos with explanation and demonstration for the learners grouped into four: kindergarten to grade three, grades four to six, grades seven to 10, and grades 11 and 12.
Bocalan, a football coach for 15 years, uploads his instructional videos on his YouTube channel. – Ofelia C. Empian
