Everything was forced to take a pause in the first quarter of the year because of the uncontrollable spread of the virus. The health sector was – and still is – in dire need of financial and welfare support primarily because they are the most important pawn in the battle against pandemic. Employment sector was greatly affected resulting in the decline of the economy. Lastly, the education sector needed to cut the academic year immediately. The said sector had to adapt to the changes to be able to continue the schooling of the students, thus online classes.
Given the situation, online classes sounded the safest option there is with less personal contact, from home setup, and the likes. It sounded too good to be true, but then it happened. We had to continue the classes to adapt and not get left behind the new normal only to find out the system actually does the opposite.
A lot of students had to discontinue schooling this year because of the lack of financial capability. Not everyone has the resources and capability to provide gadget and internet subscription. Moreover, not every household is conducive for learning. These sparked controversy for the education sector. Educators are also at risk in this situation facing the lack of preparedness for this school year. No one is shielded from this new normal.
Few months into the new normal classes, different issues arose such as poverty, accidents, and even death. Just when we thought the setup that offers staying in four corners of the room will make every student safe is when everything went the other way around. What more do we have to lose before this ends? The welfare of every one is what’s most important and not anything else.
Students are labeled ‘’entitled’’ and ‘’too sensitive’’ because we know to speak up when we need to. We are the ones picking up the pieces of the neglect made a few months back and this should not be the case for a long time.
Authorities have romanticized the resiliency among us as an excuse for their incompetence. We should question why we don’t get mad when we see students crossing rivers and hills just to connect to the internet, when students have to work part-time amid pandemic, when students take away their lives because of the pressure to cope up with online classes.
The new normal is anti-welfare and anti-poor. It should not be patronized nor normalized. The education sector needs to protect educators and the students. Let the people responsible in this pandemic be accountable for the neglect they made because Filipinos should not be left behind.
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