MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Tuesday, March 29, that it is mapping out a “recovery plan” to address the learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that the recovery plan is part of the DepEd’s “post-pandemic efforts.”

“We have to ensure that our interventions are effective so that everyone can catch up and accelerate their learning,” Briones said.

Education Assistant Secretary Alma Torio, who is in charge of curriculum and instruction, said that the recovery plan was anchored on “learning remediation and intervention, professional development, health, safety, at wellness.”

Torio added that the recovery plan will include “extending school calendar, expanding of learning time, establishing learning support center in schools and community-based learning spaces, conduct summer learning remediation and intervention programs, and hiring of additional learning support aides.”

The DepEd also said that it would strengthen existing learning interventions such as reading, regular home visitation, holding of virtual and in-person study groups, and involvement of parents and communities in the learning of students.

Torio said the recovery plan will also entail the safe return of students to schools.

“We would like to address the socio-emotional and behavioral recovery of learners. We will strengthen the Oplan Kalusugan and focus on child protection/child online protection, and establishment of helplines/ health lines,” Torio said.

In 2021, several groups and even Vice President Leni Robredo called on the government to declare a “learning crisis” in the Philippines following a World Bank report on poor learning results among Filipino students. (READ: DepEd head demands apology from World Bank for PH poor education ranking)

Education advocates have said that the pandemic highlighted the gaps in the Philippine education system. This was evident in some erroneous learning modules distributed to public school students during the pandemic.

What critics described as “painful” grammatical errors, wrong math equations, and depictions of gender stereotypes alarmed a public already worried over the quality of education that over 25 million students were receiving during the pandemic. – Rappler.com