HONTIVEROS ON ERRONEOUS MODULES: "WAG ISISI SA TEACHERS"
Senator says lack of preparation, 'rushed' school opening to blame

Senator Risa Hontiveros calls "highly unfair" the stream of criticisms being hurled towards teachers in the light of alleged errors and confusing questions found in the Department of Education's (DepEd) self-learning modules (SLMs).

Hontiveros, whose office received reports from the group Teachers Dignity Coalition, said the glaring mistakes in the modules should instead be attributed to the seemingly 'rushed' opening of classes. Hontiveros said this resulted in DepEd's failure to standardize and strictly evaluate learning materials.

"It is highly unfair na sa mga guro isisi itong mga mali sa modules. Nangangahulugan lang ito na hindi pa rin 100% ready ang sistema noong nagbukas ang klase. This is a sign na kinulang sa preparasyon ang mga schools at minadali ang pagbubukas ng klase," she said. "May mga kaso pa na sariling sikap na gumawa ng modules ang ilang regions dahil hindi na kinayang maglabas ng standardized learning modules ng DepEd Central Office," she added.

In light of these reports and the increasing demands of distance learning, Hontiveros is strongly urging DepEd to form a 'technical working group' (TWG), comprised of master teachers and experts who will efficiently design, craft, vet, and screen SLMs before distributing to schools. Aside from ensuring the standardization of SLMs, Hontiveros believes that this will lessen the tasks of teachers already dealing with heavy teaching loads.

"Ang hinaing ng teachers, bumubuo na sila ng modules, bukod pa sa teaching load nila," she said. "Dahil sa sandamakmak na trabaho ay nasasakripisyo ang kalidad hindi lang ng module kundi pati pagtuturo sa mga bata. Kaya dapat may separate team na nakatutuok lang sa paggawa ng modules. Yun lang ang gagawin ng TWG at hindi na bibigyan ng teaching load," she said.

RETRENCHED PRIVATE SCHOOL TEACHERS TO AUGMENT PUBLIC EDUCATION

Meanwhile, to augment the workforce needed for the public education system and help address the compounding problems that have been arising in distance learning, Hontiveros is also calling on DepEd to hire more teachers, especially private school teachers who have lost jobs during the pandemic. She furthered said the teachers can assist in self-learning, and ensure the quality of educational materials and education service delivery.

"We need human resources to fulfill the promise of quality education lalo na ngayong may pandemya. We need proofreaders, we need people who can help improve our learning materials, we need more teachers, and we need learning assistants para sa mga magulang na walang kakayahan gabayan ang kanilang mga anak," she said.

"Even then, sinasabi ko nang hindi dapat masakripisyo ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa gitna ng hamon ng pandemya. Kaya mas dapat nating ibsan ang mga pasanin ng ating mga teachers dahil para na rin yan sa pagkatuto ng mga bata." she concluded.

Hontiveros had earlier batted for medical benefits and internet allowance for public school teachers carrying out the new modes of learning.