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.
* * *
Thanks
for your letters, all will be answered. Comments welcome at
leoudtohan@yahoo.com, follow leoudtohanINQ at Twitter/Facebook.
