For Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio, a drop in the use of online learning “should not alarm all of us” because there are other modes of learning students could turn to.

“For me, it should not be a big concern because we are able to immediately revert to another distance learning modality just to be sure that every learner is still given access to the learning resources,” San Antonio said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart on Tuesday, December 29.

Schools opened in the middle of the pandemic using distance learning – a mix of online learning, modules, and TV/radio programs – following President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to suspend face-to-face classes until a coronavirus vaccine becomes widely available.

San Antonio said that the Department of Education (DepEd) was validating reports on the dwindling number of students attending online classes.

He added that they were expecting reports about the implementation of distance learning by January.

In an interview with DZMM on Monday, December 28, Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) National Chairman Benjo Basas said that their group noted a decline in students participating in online classes and turning in their accomplished learning modules.

San Antonio said that public schools don’t have much students using online classes. “We don’t have many of them in the public schools. They can always revert to other options like digital modular without having to rely on the internet,” he said.

He added that for students who have gadgets, learning resources could be delivered to them stored in flash drives.

Data from the DepEd showed that there were 452,952 public school students and 1,274,483 private school students who were going online as distance learning mode.

On December 26, Duterte took back his approval for a dry run of face-to-face classes in 2021, as other countries reported cases of the new coronavirus variant reaching their shores.

The President earlier approved the dry run in mid-December. Voluntary face-to-face classes were supposed to be tested in select schools located in areas with low COVID-19 risk.

Teachers’ groups previously warned that face-to-face classes pose a health risk, given the Philippines’ lack of health infrastructure and gaps in testing and contact tracing.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of Senate committee on basic education, said that 2021 will be “a very challenging year for both our learners and our teachers in light of the absence of face-to-face classes.” – Rappler.com