The Department of Education-Cordillera is planning on employing various learning modalities for school year 2020-2021, which is set to open on Aug. 24.
The learning schemes will depend on the situation of communities where the learners are located.
DepEd-Cordillera Information Officer Georaloy Palao-ay said the agency and its partners are currently ironing out the guidelines that will be downloaded to the division offices and schools.
“We will craft the guidelines from the regional to the division level. The inputs of the schools are critical because they are more aware of the situation in their communities and they can coordinate with the parents and local government units,” Palao-ay said.
DepEd has identified various learning delivery modalities to be adopted by the different public schools, such as holding of face-to-face classes; distance learning through online, modular, and TV or radio-based instruction; blended learning, which is a combination of both schemes; and homeschooling facilitated by qualified parents, guardians, or tutors.
Palao-ay said they are looking at blended learning to be applied in the region, but it will still depend on the health situation in the locality by Aug. 24.
He said based on the survey conducted by the regional office, most learners have access to television and radio, which DepEd could tap for alternative learning.
“What we are eyeing for the Cordillera, which is already a proven approach, is the use of radio and TV, most especially for radio, which has a wider reach. According to our survey, almost everybody has access to radio. Presidential Communications Operations Office Sec. Martin Andanar has volunteered to allow the use of our government-owned radio and TV facilities for this,” he said.
DepEd will also facilitate remote enrollment from June 1 to 30. The enrollment forms will come with a survey where learners would be asked if they have Internet connectivity or have access to it and if they have smartphones, among others needs that would be the basis of schools in implementing the learning modalities. – Ofelia C. Empian
