Social distancing is the norm, unfortunately, so is distancing from our studies.
Layout by Sheila Matibag
I was sitting on the gym floors of the SV building, sweating and sitting side by side, inches apart from my classmates, listening to my perky P.E. teacher talk about volleyball when a few of my classmates started mumbling, their small talk turned into cheers, as they became ecstatic with the Manila mayor’s announcement of calling off classes for an entire week as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 threat. I was excited as well, after all, a long week filled with the promise of more time to catch up on my Netflix queue seemed like a dream come true.
Following the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) set by the President, that supposedly week-long break has turned into a month-long quarantine, now extended to another long month. Along with it are the temporary closure of public places, like frequently crowded malls and parks. This goes without saying that physical classes have been put on hold as well, replaced with online classes, where teachers can hold lessons and students can hand in their due assignments. While this is a standard and expected response, how exactly has the ECQ affected our country’s education system?
The Twitter-verse, ever so known for its woke users, recently came to life in a rally against the implementation of online classes across almost all universities in the Metro, citing that holding online classes does not benefit students at all, due to the fact that not all of them have access to devices fit for their needs, much more a stable internet connection. And understandably so, some are even tweeting that having online classes are not conducive for learning, nor does it maximize the money they have or will pay for.
Through the urging of the students, other schools have followed their requests, with one university, even going as far as automatically passing all their students and giving tuition fee refunds. Following suit, Adamson University has recently announced that the semester will be put to an end on May 16th, following the usual academic calendar, and if all goes well, actual physical classes will resume in August. Final requirements will be assigned and passed online, with students set to be given a pass or incomplete grade, should they not follow the conditions set.
While some students might feel that their learnings have gone stagnant throughout this whole time, a student from the
Communication department, Julia Rante, has taken it upon herself to counteract this by trying to catch up on her student duties even while stuck at home, saying “In order to catch up, I read the materials our profs gave to us and re-read it again, and try to answer it. I also browse YouTube for some lessons.”
On the other hand, graduate students express their sadness online over missing the last few months of their senior year in college due to the lockdown.
Like every other student, their graduation rites will be held off for the meantime as well, robbing them of their time on top of the stage, basking in their hard-earned diploma.
Although often unnoticed, this ECQ has a massive effect on Adamson employees too. A faculty member of the Communication department, Ms. Mira Ticlao, lamented her postponed projects in the film production industry, as well as her concern over financial matters.
“What hurts most in our industry is most of our colleagues/workmates rely on our paid check. We don't have monthly salaries like a regular employee,” she said, effectively putting in words how the economy’s halt affects the income of workers.
The question of how the community quarantine has affected our education system is just one piece in the issues surrounding our country during this time of need, and while the thought of having one more month left to spend at home sounds daunting, making us want to sing that “Bored in the House” TikTok song, we must understand that this is needed for the well-being of not just students, but everyone in the country as well.