As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, representatives from various South East Asian countries – including the Philippines – shared their respective education response policies to ensure continuity of learning through the use of alternative delivery modalities.
Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan, Undersecretary of the Department of Education of the Philippines were present during the webinar. The representatives shared one common belief: education must continue for the learners through alternative delivery modalities. Malaluan said that while COVID19 is indeed a “challenge and a problem” it is also an “opportunity” to fast track education initiatives. “COVID-19 is changing the landscape of education thus, governments and agencies should not sit idly by and they must be continue to be proactive agents for learning to continue and to effect positive change,” he added.
“The challenge is to figure out how to find the right balance between the most relevant basics to teach and urge for covering the curriculum and the best system of learning that is most accessible for students,” he explained. The closure of schools, Abdul Rahim said, has also “greatly impacted the scheduling of assessments at various levels for students in Malaysia” although many other examinations worldwide were also cancelled.