The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday, September 20, assured students of “better” self-learning modules (SLMs) for the recently opened school year 2021-2022.

Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said that DepEd partnered with the Philippine Normal University in January to improve its quality assurance process of the SLMs.

“At ang ginawa po nating paraan para masiguro na better version ng self-learning modules ang gagawin ng mga bata, nagsagawa po tayo ng second round ng quality assurance sa mga self-learning modules na ito,” he said.

(What we did to have a better version of self-learning modules was we conducted a second round of quality assurance of the modules.)

San Antonio said the DepEd monitored fewer error reports in SLMs from January to July 2021 compared to the more than 100 validated errors during the first three months of classes in October to December 2020.

The two erroneous modules, however, put at risk the education of over 25 million public school students last school year.

“Painful” grammatical errors, wrong math equations, and depictions of gender stereotypes alarmed a public already worried over the quality of education that over 24 million students were receiving during the pandemic.

San Antonio said the public could still report erroneous SLMs through the DepEd Error Watch, an initiative launched in October 2020 to address the issue.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said the new school year would not be a repeat of last year, as the DepEd had learned and adjusted to the new normal in education.

“I’d like to assure everyone that this will not be a repeat of last year because events don’t necessarily repeat themselves,” Briones said.

Briones also said that the call to continue education triumphed over calls for lockdowns and closures, noting the the school opening was a “celebration of victories” against COVID-19. This did not sit well with the public as the same issues, such as lack of gadgets and poor internet connection, welcomed the new school year.

On Monday, Malacañang announced President Rodrigo Duterte approved limited face-to-face classes in a maximum of 120 public and private schools in areas deemed low-risk for COVID-19.

The DepEd said that the pilot run will be conducted with a combination of face-to-face classes in school and distance learning modalities for two months. – Rappler.com