“Okay lang ba mag 3rd
year, kung walang natutunan?”
These are the viral
posts from the Biliran Province State University (BiPSU) students on their
social media accounts in Facebook. As an instructor of the state university, it
saddens me to see the said post and it is quite disappointing to my end.
Am I not enough? Are
my colleagues not doing their job? Do our activities not effective? I asked and
challenged myself to the point of thinking the said post all over again before
I sleep for like a week.
After my discernment,
I realized that teachers and students are not at fault with those thoughts, but
rather we need to blame it to the system itself.
State Universities
and Colleges in the country suffered a lot during the pandemic. They came up
with the system of learning called flexible learning. The flexible learning
involves digital and non-digital technology and does not necessarily require to
be connected to the internet. It has three modes of learning: online, offline,
and blended learning. According to the Commission on Higher Education, online
learning is an electronic-based set-up which uses available online classrooms
for the delivery of instruction just like the Learning Management System Moodle
of the Biliran Province State University. Offline learning does not use
internet connectivity at all. The learning is done through printed modules and
use of digital forms such as video and audio presentations placed in storage
devices. Lastly is blended learning which is the combination of both offline
and online.
Is it effective or
not?
With the recent flaks
of the students, I could say that it is not effective. The one that could evaluate
the system and/ or policy are the stakeholders who are beneficiaries of the
said system. There are a lot of reasons why this kind of educational system
failed. Maybe because of the facilities for our school and stakeholders, maybe
the disruption that they could get studying at their houses, or maybe the
distraction of having it online. Nobody knows. But one thing for sure, it is
because of pandemic fatigue or worst the pandemic burnout.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic
recession have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new
barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and substance use
disorders. During the pandemic, there are a lot of reported anxiety and
depression. A KFF
Health Tracking Poll from July 2020
also found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their
mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating
(32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening
chronic conditions (12%), due to worry and stress over the coronavirus. As the
pandemic wears on, ongoing and necessary public health measures expose many
people to experiencing situations linked to poor mental health outcomes, such
as isolation and job
loss. (Panchal, Kamal, Cox, and
Garfield)
While knowing this as
I conducted my research study on covid-19 pandemic, I realized that the buzz
about the opening of classes for the next Academic Year is not a good idea at
all, worst is it will worsen the problem more.
I chatted my
colleagues on the possible opening of the classes this August as final
examination for the 2nd semester will about to end this July. If you
do the math, yes it is correct, the BiPSU administration is planning not to
have a summer break for this year. A friend of mine who is an official of the
BiPSU administration cited the long month break that we had at the start of the
pandemic as a defense. However, it is enough not to put a break?
Absolutely not.
Academic break is a must. In fact, summer classes is part of the academic break
per se because not all students will go to school or if they will, there is
only a limited courses to be enrolled with.
Given the literature
saying about pandemic burnout and pandemic fatigue, there is a must for our
schools like BiPSU to have academic break prior to the start of the next
academic year. This year is not a vacation for the students and teachers but
this will be an opportunity to them to finish all their backlogs before
starting again for another battle. I cannot imagine what level of anxiety it
could bring to them if there is no break. Imagine multiple of activities not
yet finished and here you are, receiving another tasks to be complied at the
end of the four months- another burden to work, to think, and to take.
Education is a not a
race and every one of us deserves to take some rest, meditate, and discern.
Academic Break is a must!
No comments:
Post a Comment