Usec. Tonisito M.C. Umali, Esq.

DepEd: Problems, Challenges, Plans and Direction in Education

Magandang umaga po sa ating lahat at salamat po Prof. Emmanuel Batoon for that very kind, very nice words you used to introduce me po. Can I request po our staff if you could flash our slides please. Yung topic ko po professor parang on challenges that I’ll contextualize it based on what you said na lamang. At alam po nating lahat na pag sinabi pong Department of Education, ang ating pong tinututukan dito ay basic education from kinder to senior high school, grade 12. At kapag higher education, it should be Commission and Higher Education. I’ll exert effort po to contextualize what I will be showing to you and try to relate it to our higher education institutions in relation to the problems, challenges same issues and concerns I would say that we are also confronted with in basic education. So we all start with, this is the mandate given or Article 2 Section 17. So let’s start with the legal basis why it is very important that we are all here right now talking about the challenges of education in light of the pandemic and how we will respond to these challenges and relate this to the mandate given to us by the constitution. Sa ilalim po ng Saligang Batas Article 2 Section 17, wala na hong debate, pag uusap, dahil sinabi na po na ang edukasyon, agham, teknolohiya, sining, kultura pati ang palakasan at pareho po ang DepEd at CHED, ang higher education institution may kinalaman po rito ay dapat pong bigyan ng prioridad ng estado to foster patriotism, nationalism, accelerate social progress and promote total human liberation and development. Kapag dinala nyo rin po to, ang ating Saligang Batas, ay isa po sa saligang batas sa buong mundo na meron pong ganitong uri ng provision. Ito pong provision na ito, Article 14 Section 1, wala po yan  sa 1973 and 1935 Philippine Constitutions. Wala po yan. Noong 1987 constitution po na authored by Fr. Bernas during the constitutional commission deliberations of 1986, inilagay po ito. At tinanong si Fr. Bernas bakit kailangan ba ito, kailangan mailagay ito sa Saligang Batas para maalala ng estado, ng pamahalaan, ng CHED, ng TESDA, ng DepEd ang kanilang mandato patungkol sa pagsulong at pag protekta sa karapatan ng lahat ng mamamayan sa isang dekalidad na edukasyon, sa lahat ng antas, mula kinder, elementary, high school, college at kung magpupunta to ng tech-voc level. And we should also take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. Sa bahagi po ng DepEd, sa basic education, ito po ang aming misyon at nais ko lang po diinan kung bakit po mahalaga itong forum na ito. At I’m sure CHED and TESDA also has that framework in actively engaging the family, our community and other stakeholders [I’m looking at the bottom portion of the slide] in making sure that when we do our mandate, to make sure that there’s life-long learning, kailangan maunawaan po ng buong komunidad, ng buong bansa, na ito po ay hindi lamang aming mandato, trabaho, sa DepEd pati na rin sa CHED at TESDA. I’m sure there are laws out there telling our partner CHED and TESDA that we have to engage partners and make them realize that this is not the responsibility alone of DepEd, CHED and TESDA but a collective responsibility. And that’s why we really appreciate for example what our alumni association in UST is doing right now, engaging in a forum like this, inviting resource speakers, talking about challenges, talking about issues, possible solutions. At dahil po dito nakikita po natin na yung konsepto na ang pagsisiguro na madisiplina at mahubog ang isipang ng mga bata ay talaga naming kolektibong responsibilidad po nating lahat. [Next slide please]. In DepEd, meron po kaming ipinatupad na Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). I’m sure in UST and in all other HEIs, bumuo po kayo ng plano, paano po ninyo masisiguro na maipatuloy ang edukasyon maski po ganito po ang ating sitwasyon. Sa basic education talagang bawal po ang face-to-face. Sa HEIs po natin, meron pong mga, tulad po ng mga TESDA< I have seend the regulations of TESDA [hello po DDG, kamusta po kayo] at dahil tumitingin din po kami sa mga regulation ng TESDA with respect to our tech-voc track and how we implement tech-voc senior high school. At ang isa pong rule ng TESDA na sinusunod po naming ay may component po sigurado ito, tech-voc track po natin, na its very nature na dapat talaga na face-to-face. You cannot for example you talk about welding unless may welding equipment na pwedeng dalhin sa bahay n gating mag-aaral ay hindi po talaga uubra na face-to-face po lamang ito. Kailangan may halong face-to-face po ito para may aktual sila para magkukumpuni ng mga sasakyan, mga ilang halimbawa po lang iyan na talagang kailangang may component ng face-to-face, pag tech-voc po talaga by the very nature of the course at ganoon rin po sa HEI. And what we’re just trying to say is, kailangan may age requirement pa rin po to. Sa TESDA they may be 21 years old bago po ito yung face-to-face. So we follow that so if we have a basic education senior high school learners na papasa po sa ganitong edad, meron po kaming ganuong mga patakaran din sa DepEd. Ang sinasabi ko lamang po ay ang DepEd ay may klaro pong plano katulad po ng UST, katulad po ng CHED at TESDA, para po magpatuloy ang pag aaral at kung papaano po maisasagawa ito,  limited face-to-face, sa kaso po ninyo dahil po of age na po yung mga estudyante po natin. Pero po ang anak ko po, Prof. Batoon, nag la-Law po sa UST. It’s really a privilege my son was very happy when he learned that I was invited and I told him, cguro anak alam na nandidiyan ka kaya ako naimbitahan. Cguro alam din nila na ang aking ama ay isa rin pong alumnus ng UST. Ang aking pong, marami po kaming mga pinsang buo, fiscal na po ngayon, UST College, ang anak ko po nag Legal Management din po sa UST. And i’m really proud and I’m very happy that my son has enrolled in this very prestigious and reputable institution, University of Santo Tomas. At nakita ko po kung paano nyo po hinubog ang aking anak. At nakikita ko po, my point Prof. Batoon, maski po kolehiyo yung aking anak po noon online po sila eh. Online learning, wala pong face to face. Kaya po itong aking ipinapakita po sa inyo [next slide please] lalo na po ngayon sa law school ay pwedeng pwede rin po, aplikado rin po itng mga experiencen namin po rito with respect to online learning. But the principles of BE-LCP uh which is anchored on, yung healthy and safety and well-being of our people and personnel, yung mga teachers po namin, yan po personal na pumapasok sa ating mga paaralan para po mag gawa ng mga learning packets, dyan po nagnyayari sa ating mga paaralan yung mga printed modules,  activity sheets po, nilalagay sa envelope or maliit na bag, kukunin ng mga magulang linggo linggo, ibabalik, pagkatapos ng isang linggo o sa susunod na linggo para kunin naman yung kanilang modules sa susunod na linggo. At yan po yung isa sa hamon po sa amin sa DepEd. Bagamat ang CHED siguro wala po ganyang modality na nangyayari. Yung amin po namang  online based learning kitang kita ko po dahil nitong unang araw ng pasukan ng DepEd, September 13, umikot po tayo. Doon po ako sa division office, doon po sa lugar kung saan nag o-online class yung aming guro, and I’m sure ganoon rin ang hamon ng mga propesor po natin sa tertiary level. Mejo mabigat po talaga kasi pag tinatawag po ng teacher yung isang bata, nakita ko minsan hindi maganda po yung internet connectivity eh. At dahil po doon, hindi nakakasunod minsan po yung bata pag tinanong dahil di niya narinig siguro yung guro. Yun talaga ang mabigat at marami pong inherent limitations of course when you do online learning. You could see, and are easily addressed when there’s face-to-face lalo na na po sa amin sa basic education, makikita nyo po yung mukha ng bata kung medyo hindi nauunawaan, makikita po ninyo kung nakikinig o hindi, sa amin naman po ay medyo hindi naman po namin pinilipit ang bata. Hindi ko po alam sa UST kung ayaw po magbukas ng video basta magpaliwanag lamang kung bakit, hindi, pero pwede naman naming ipakiusap na buksan ang screen kasi kailangan nakikinig, baka hindi naman nakikinig, pero kapag nagsabi na may issues maunawain naman po ang DepEd so dapat ganoon so we allow them. So kapag hind mo nakikita, you don’t even know if they are listening or not. So these are the challenges, simple as it may appear but they are very crucial to learning kung hindi nakikinig ang bata, hindi maganda ang connectivity, lalong lalo na po sa basic education, ay talaga pong may epekto ito. Kaya po yung bahagi ng printed learning modules na aming pong dinideliver na kanila pong sinsasagutan at binabalik po sa amin, mano-mano kung wala po silang connectivity na ma-upload poi to, malaking bahagi poi to ng basic education learning continuity plan sa basic education. So what we did, we would like to share, I don’t know how UST did this knowing that with the limited capability of our learners to read the modules, wala nga pong teachers,  to access online learning or even asynchronous, yung iba wala naman pong gadget, at kung may gadget wala naman connectivity, kung may connectivity may issue naman sa pambayad ng load, nakita po naming yan, we streamlined yung tinatawag po naming most essential learning competencies. Ito po, alam na alam po natin ito, ano po ba yung competency, ano po ba yung kaalaman na gusto nating maunawaan ng bata. I’m sure sa kolehiyo ganyan din po yan, pagkatapos ng isang learning session, dapat meron siya. So pinili po naming ito, yung dating dalawa pinagsama, at yung dating humigit kumulang na labing limang libong most essential learning competencies po natin sa basic education, bumaba poi to sa himigit kumulang na limang libo. Pero hindi po ibig sabihin po nito na wala nang matututunan ang mga bata, ngunit ang binabanggit lang po naming ay hindi na po ito yung dati na kung ano tinuturo natin nung face-to-face, kumpleto ano ang lahat ng gusto nating maunawaan, tinanggap na po naming iyon, hindi na po natin kakayanin ito at tinukoy na lang natin yung pupwede pa  given all the challenges and limitations that we have. We prepared our teachers in the same way that I’m sure UST and higher education institutions prepared theirs, because we never did this before, online. Bagamat  that’s a learning modality, pwede naman, hindi naman natin ito ginagami, ang mga professor natin hindi face-to-face. So we did training for our teachers, how to maximize the various learning management systems, how to upload their lessons, how to grade, do their lesson plans. Ganoon po. Lahat po iyan aming ginawa bahagi po ng kabuuan plano. At yung health standards in schools and workplaces, we made sure that we are compliant with IATF. And I am looking at item 4, meron po kaming tinatawag na Brigada Eskwela, Oplan Balik Eskwela, partnership activitiesn a noon araw talaga pong gace-to-face ang aktibidad na ito, nag focus po kami ngayon in engaging partners. For example, siguro ang UST hindi na po kailangan dahil marami na pong professional na kaya pong magbigay ng  psychosocial intervention sa kanilang mga estudyante. Kami po sa basic eduation sa mga pampublikong paaralan, marami po tayong items for guidance counselors pero hindi po ito napupuno, kulang po ng supply. Lahat po ng aming humigit kumulang na 47,000 public school, hindi po lahat yang may guidance counselors, maliit na bahagi lang po nyan ang meron dahil kapag titignan nyo po yung kabuuang populasyon ng registered guidance counselors ay talaga naman pong kaunti at medyo maliit pa po yata yung sweldo sa amin kaya po hindi po nila kinukuha. Ngunit ang ginawa po namin dyan, ang punto ko po ay, meron po tayong framework on partnership. We partner with Psychological Association of the Philippines, with DSWD, with other private companies. Sila po ang nagsasagawa ng ating mga psychosocial debriefing activities. Marami po kaming mga videos na naka upload sa aming management learning portal na pwede pong i-access ng mga teachers .At kapag kailangan po ng some form of 1-on-1 counselling at walang RGC (Registered Guidance Counselor) ang aming pong paaralan, meron  po kaming mekanismo para magkaroon. Ang punto ko po, ito po ay nangyayari, how we equip our parents in partnership with the Home Schoolers Association of the Philippines, kasi ngayon ang magulang po lalo na sa basic education kailangan tinututukan, hindi naman kinakailangan malaman nila yung asignatura kung hindi yung kanilang skills na mag monitor ng bata. Meron po kaming mga learning sessions po dyan para sa mga parents. Hindi lang po kami ang kumikilos dyan, pati po ang   private sector partners. When we talk about gadgets, we don’t have enough budget to give gadgets to all of our 900,000 public school teachers but we’re trying. Napakalaki po ng budget na kakailanganin po nyan, inuunti unti po namin. We have 22.5 million more or less public school learners. When you talk about quality education, the way I said it in Article 14 Section 1, necessarily in this kind of situation dapat may gadget ang mga bata. We do this in partnership with the local government units, that’s what we’re trying. And to say under item 5, partner local government unit partners, allocate funds to purchase tablets, smartphones, and they give this to our children. Katulong po sila, we have engaged the IBPAP (Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines), an association of businesses export processing zones. Yung kanila pong  three to five-year old laptops, gadgets na pwedeng pwede pa rin pong gamitin, nakita ko po, maayos na maayos po  dinodonate po nila na direcho sa ating mga paaralan. Yun po ang ating punto, yan po ang isang hamon ngayong panahon na ito na sinasabi po natin na atin pong nahaharap sa tulong po ng ating mga partners. So we do this, aside from online learning, we also have TV and radio-based instruction. You have DepEd TV sa channel 13. Maganda po mga lessons namin. I am sure UST doing also synchronous and asynchronous mode of learning.

Meron po kaming regional contextualized learning continuity plan, kino-contextual po yan. Sa central office, meron po kami, we contextualized that sa region iba’t iba po ang sitwasyon sa ibaba, pati sa division. Ang division po namin is province or city-wide, katumbas po yan ng parang provincial local government unit or city local government unit, yan po ang aming governance structure. So kino-contextualized poi tong planong ito.

Meron din po kami, and I would like to learn from UST too, how do we assess our learners whether they are really learning what they need to learn given all these challenges. May guidelines po kami kung papaano po i-a-asses. Binigyan natin ng gabay ang ating mga guro at tayo po ay nakikipag ugnayan sa mga magulang para malaman po talaga kung talagang  nakukuha ng mga bata ang kanilang dapat pong matutuhan. We want to learn from our UST partner, maybe, how you are assessing your learners too.

Meron po kaming preparasyon for face-to-face, so mag pa pilot testing muna po kami nung plano na ito pero kailangan po ng approval ng Malacanang, pero meron po kaming ginagawang ganito po.

Teachers being considered as frontliners, we have a special campaign para po makumbinsi, at kami po ay natutuwa, ang aming mga guro, malaking porsiyento po ang nagpapabakuna  at nakipag ugnayan po kami sa DOH para po magkaroon ng available na vaccine sa aming mga teachers who should all be considered frontliners. So we have a program on that.

Ito pong school year namin nagsimula September 13, alam ko po sa higher education nauna  na po kayo lalo na kung tri-sem kayo. And we would like to share na yung pong aming enrolment ay nasa 27.5 (million) na po sa kabuuan. At sa pampublikong paaralan ay nalampasan na po namin yung numero, yung nakita po ninyo 100% bagamat sa private schools po ay yun po ang aming nakikita ay medyo bumaba ang bilang po, pero sa kabuuan lumalabas lumipat sa pampublikong paaralan. I don’t know if it’s the same trend in higher education, if they are enrolling in state colleges and universities. But in basic education medyo ganoon po ang nangyayari at nauunawan natin ito dahil nga po sa challenges po siguro na kumita ang magulang at magbayad ng matrikula. Ngunit gusto ko po sabihin na sa basic education meron po tayong GASTPE, we have support for teachers in private education, 18,000 pesos a year. Meron po tayong support grade seven to ten 13,000 (pesos) kapag qualified sa NCR per student. I hope UST High School is receiving its share, 22,500 (pesos) sa senior high school kapag NCR, 11,000 (pesos) sa junior high school. Kapag highly urbanized cities, 20,000 (pesos) pag sa senior high school voucher, may mga qualification po yan. 80% of the amount, rather, that I mentioned kung galing din sa private school lumipat uli ng private school, junior high school to senior high. Kung public school high lumipat po ng private senior high, mas malaki po yung kanilang makukuha. Ang punto ko po ay mayroon pong ganong programa ang pamahalaan. Dahil tinitignan po namin kayo, UST, bilang partner. High school lalo na po, at senior high school po ninyo. At pag sinabi po kasing sistema ng edukasyon, kasama po dyan ang tertiary level,  we are not only talking about the public system of education. The Philippine education system is composed of public and private education system. Under Article 14, there’s a section there, Section 4 I believe, it talks about the complementary role of public and private education. Kayo po  ay partners po namin. Kaya nga po nakalagay sa Saligang Batas, ang estado ay dapay may sistema ng programa, maintaining scholarship grant subsidies, yan po yung sa amin sa bahagi ng basic education. Sa tertiary level, they have the UniFAST (Unified Student Financial Assistance System for. Tertiary Education) Iskolar ng Bayan law, DOST meron din po yan I’m sure. Yan po ang ilan sa mga programang ipinapatupad. Sana po ang UST po natin ay masami pong FAST slot na nakukuha sa UniFAST I hope.  But what i’m saying is private and public schools are partners and we are investing to improve our learning environment, improving our alternative learning system. Those who cannot enrol in the formal school, we have a very strong alternative learning system. Malnourished and under nourished, malaking bagay po rin yan, may programa po tayo dyan, mahigit dalawang milyon, taon taon may special feeding program po tayo na ginagawa. Yan po ay alinsunod lalong lalo na po sa unang mga taon po, baka sa kolehiyo hindi po ganon nakikita ito bilang suliranin. Pero sa atin po, ang bata lalo na kinder to grade 3, pag nagugutom hindi po nila   talaga mauunawaan ang kanila po nilang pinag aaralan. Wala po silang tamang nutrisyon, tamang timbang base sa kanilang edad at laki, binibigyan po natin, meron po tayong schoold feeding program po para dyan. At pinapapatuloy po natin yan, maski ngayon po dinedeliver na lamang po yung meal sa bahay po nung batang under nourished or severely wasted. Computerization program, we have that definitely especially in this time of pandemic. We are really trying our best to re-introduce the teacher to learner ratio and we have successfully done that. Nasa one is to 32 hanggang one is to 28 na po tayo sa elementary level, mas maganda medyo mataas ng bahagya sa high school. Pero wala na po yung nung araw nasa one id to 60 or 70, wala na po yan. And we are now enhancing power and trying to strengthen our TV and radio based capability to deliver our e-modules on top of what we’re trying to do on online learning. There are continuing reforms po na meron po tayo, ito po yung kampanya ng ating Kalihim Leonor “Liling” Magtolis-Briones on Sulong Edukalidad.

Ito po ang nais ko po sigurong sabihin, isa po talagang malaking karangalan, hindi po ako magsasawang banggitin po ito na makasama ko po kayong lahat. Sa ating pong National Multisectoral Summit on Educational Transformation. Alam po ninyo, ito pong ating partner, UST Graduate School Center for Continuing Professional Education and Development, UST Alumni Association, si Dean Henry hello po, convenor nitong summit po nating ito, Prof. Evelyn Songco, Dr. Michael, Prof. Jocelyn, Prof. Ida, Dr. Fernando, ang atin pong host napakabait po Prof. Emmanuel, Engr. Jonathan, other speakers DDG Rosanna, Chairman Alberto Fenix, Secretary Ramon Lopez, marami pong salamat sa inyo. Dahil po sa inyong lahat, kami po ay talagang lubos na nagpapasalamat. Yung amin pong isinusulong na magpatuloy pong mangarap ang ating mga anak, kolehiyo man o sa high school o elementarya ay pwede pa rin pong mangyari dahil ang kanila pong pangarap ay pwedeng mangyari dahil po sa pagpapatuloy po ng ating edukasyon sa gitna po ng pandemyang ito. Mabuhay po kayo, mabuhay po ang University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association. Mabuhay po ang kabataang Pilipino. Salamat po!