It is no question that this pandemic has caused major setbacks in our daily lives and especially with education. What can one do for education in the middle of a pandemic with little options for learning? This is certainly the question that has been bothering schools, teachers, and students. Some would wait to be given an answer but not Principal Rogie Espulagar. This devoted and passionate teacher and principal from Bacjawan Elementary School, Iloilo made a way to continue education amidst this pandemic. He came up with a ‘school learning continuity plan.’ This plan aims to provide assistance and support to learners in embracing the new normal. But why did he go through this tremendous effort? He said that he has always believed in the power of education, how it can transform one to be a better person, and give opportunities to broaden one’s horizon. He sees education as the best tool to combat poverty and he believes everybody deserves quality education. He has a passion to help and educate people and sees this as his mission.

Principal Rogie’s continuity plan has several objectives. It aims to provide support and assistance to learners while normal school operations are disrupted and physical access to schools is fully or partially restricted. It utilizes varied learning modalities suited to the needs of the learners while considering the availability of learning resources, ICT facilities, and capability of teachers. It also recognizes the need to capacitate teachers, parents/guardian, and stakeholders to create positive learning environments to learners whether at school, home or community.  Clearly, Principal Rogie had a well-thought-out plan and pulled out all the stops to make education work in the midst of crisis.

He started by figuring out what learning modality is best fit for the students – is it online, offline, modular, and blended learning? He checked the internet access of students.  If a student does not have at least an internet speed of 3mpbs, he or she will have to do the offline learning modality. They will receive physical copies of modules and worksheets, and every week, the teachers will collect their completed assignments.   Students who are struggling can call their teachers for help.

Part of preparation for ‘the new normal’ is online training sessions for the teachers. Principal Rogie wants to make sure the teachers know how to use the ICT materials for conducting lessons. They must know how to use social media apps for communication such as viber, whatsapp, facebook etc. Parents and guardians, too, have to play in the ‘new normal.’ Part of the continuity plan is teaching parents how to create a positive learning environment at home.  He is also preparing for the day when

face to face teaching will be allowed.  He has already fixed a schedule for the students and teachers to maintain the limited number of people who can enter the classroom.

Amidst the pandemic, Principal Rogie finds a way to stay positive. “This (new normal) is a way for us to embrace the ICT world,” he quips. Despite the challenges, his ideal, devotion and passion for teaching keep him going. “When I see the children become successful, then, I can say that part of their success is from us teachers who molded them.” Principal Rogie is definitely an exemplar of an education champion.

A marathon relay is no match to the line-up of activities that Synergeia had in Pasig City early into 2020. Mayor Vico Sotto had given the baton over to his beloved professor, Synergeia President and CEO Dr. Nene Guevara, in overseeing their education governance programs. Together with Dr. Evalou Agustin, DepEd School Division Superintendent, a series of capacity building programs deemed important for the schools was planned.  It was one jam-packed calendar but all the weariness from the preparation of these activities melted away after witnessing the positive response from the participants.  And to give a glimpse of these activities, here is a timeline of what had happened in Pasig City:

Teacher-Leaders Workshop, January 16

A prelude to the teachers’ training, Synergeia conducted a teacher-leaders workshop for more than 20 teachers, hand-picked by the English coordinator for Pasig. They were prepared for a mission: impossible – – to serve as co-facilitators in the remedial reading workshop for more than 1,400 teachers.  The teachers seized the challenge as they took their roles seriously and initiated their own practice sessions before the start of the actual workshops.  These teacher-leaders took charge of doing the various exercises on phonemes and comprehension with the “teacher-trainees.”

SGC Workshop, January 30

In order to make education work, stakeholders in the community should be engaged in the programs initiated by the LGU.  As with other SGC workshops facilitated by Synergeia, invited to the SGC workshop were the barangay chairmen, PTA president and school heads who are the key officers in their respective schools.  They reviewed the important components of the SGC such as its functions, difference from the PTA, responsibilities of members, election of officers, and doing a stakeholders mapping.  Because getting the organization to work together is difficult at the beginning, they had an exercise on team building.  They also had a session on organizing a meeting wherein some participants did interesting illustrations to describe an orderly and a disorderly meeting.  In their sharing, a meeting is “maayos” (orderly) if it has a goal/objective, an agenda, a leader or facilitator, if it is participative, and consensus building.  A meeting that is “magulo” (ineffective) is just the opposite of these.

The main output of the SGC workshop is an action plan for each school. To prepare for this, participants learned to translate goals into tasks, the difference between inputs and outputs, and the importance of thinking in terms of outcomes. As their first foray in action planning, many schools focused on reorganizing their SGCs as a result of what they learned in the workshop. 

Teachers’ Workshop on Basic Reading Instruction, All Saturdays of February

This series of workshops was the most challenging among all activities for Pasig City just by the sheer number of teachers who attended – between 360 to 400 teachers per batch.  But the excitement, the energy and the openness to learn new ways to effectively teach reading to children kept everybody going.    

Dr. Guevara taught the teachers with her usual gusto and wit.  The workshops were as usual interactive and fun while teachers reviewed the basic components of reading. Helping Dr. Guevara were Mr. Joey Calios, Education Program Supervisor from the Division Office, and Synergeia mentors Mr. Joaquin Hagedorn and Mr. Oskar Atendido.  

In all the four Saturdays, the city’s top local officials came to show their support to the teachers’ training and to talk about efforts to improve the delivery of education not only in Pasig but the whole country.    Congressman Roman Romulo took the opportunity to explain the return of the GMRC subject in schools and changes to the K-to-12 law that are being discussed in Congress like the suspension of the mother tongue-based curriculum.

Mayor Vico Sotto graced the capacity building workshops with his stellar presence.  He rallied everyone’s support for the education programs that Pasig is launching, including a series of teacher training to address poor reading skills of children. He praised the teachers on their dedication to their profession.  Of course, as his former professor, Dr. Guevara did not let the chance pass for the Mayor to do some reading exercises.  It was teaching and learning by example, and Pasig’s rock star Mayor gamely read some nursery rhymes before the delighted teachers.