Online schooling has a tech issue

Last month, some schools across the country have had to quickly shift to remote learning as they adapt to social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19.

In Bohol,  six-year-old Arvin Jay Curangcurang climbs on a makeshift tree house on  top of a hill in Barangay Cabatang in Alicia town to attend online classes. 

Arvin is a Grade 2 pupil of Advance Christian Academy-Banawa Inc.

When I visited Arvin, I'd learned that before classes opened last August 18, his grandfather, Martin, built a “tree house” on Gmelina tree located on top of a hill because it is the only place in the area where cellular phone signal is strong.

The tree house is actually made up of wooden floor with no walls and tarpaulin as roof. It has a small table and small chair. 

His android phone is on a small table, leaning on the tree trunk, to keep it steady while Alvin listens to the teacher.

Arvin's aunt, Giecel Marie Curangcurang, said Barangay Cabatang is a dead spot along with the other neighboring barangays. 

"We really have no signal at all," she said. 

The tree house was inspected by Pastor Eleazar Banawa, the school administrator, to ensure Arvin's safety.

He said he told the family not to bring the boy to the treehouse if the weather was bad since the area was landslide prone and exposed to lightning and snakes. 

Banawa assured that the school would provide a module as well as  video and audio recordings if Arvin failed to attend the online class.

In order to access stable internet connection, 6-year-old Arvin Jay Curangcurang in Alicia town, Bohol has to go to a small tree house to attend his online classes. Photo: Leo Udtohan

But the main problem remained connectivity.

Even if Arvin was already in the area where cellular phone signal was supposedly strong, it was not consistent. The classes have been bogged down by interconnectivity issues.

Many students from low-income families like Arvin’s lack the basic technology they need to study online, including access to a laptop and a reliable broadband connection. 

Broadband access has been a problem long before the pandemic, with limited competition, high prices, slow speeds, and a simple lack of coverage affecting communities nationwide. 

The  Department of Education (DepEd) -Division of Bohol is also  struggling to keep education accessible to all in this pandemic. 

In its August 26 report to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, DepEd-Bohol said 61% of schools in Bohol have no internet connectivity in schools, while 39% have limited internet access (insufficient bandwidth given by providers). 

My friends-- Butch Bernas, Ph. D and Edison Gumapac of Manga High School in Tagbilaran City said they and other educators are scrambling to teach themselves software like Google Meet, Google Classroom, Zoom, Facebook Chat to create interactive content to help students at home stay engaged. 

To address the problem on lack of internet connectivity, DepEd was eyeing radio stations and local cable providers to air its learning programs to be able to reach more students.

But in the province's biggest public school in terms of population, their blended learning of choice is the delivery of printed copies to their 6,339 students.

But the parents don't have to pay for these modules, said Maurine Castaño, principal of  Dr. Cecilio Putong National High School (DCPNHS) in Tagbilaran. 

“They will get the printed copies here and return these after use,” she said.

Pastor Eleazar Banawa, the school administrator, checks the place to ensure Arvin's safety. Photo: Leo Udtohan

Castaño explained that they could not go into online classes because most of their students come from low-income families.

She expects some adjustments since even teachers are learning from this new normal.

Arvin's touching story get inside our hearts that some have helped him in some ways. 

Thank you Ms Eden Descallar-Ceballos of Globe Telecom-Tagbilaran for the Globe At Home Prepaid Wifi for Avin! 

And thank you Ms Marissa Flores, senior vice president of GMA News for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8 for Arvin! 

Indeed, if there's a will, there's way. 

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