Like a catastrophic rain that floods all lands, the pandemic sweeps everything that meets the eye. The storm took away what we’ve always known and for learners, this meant leaving the classrooms empty and switching to remote learning. They all face the same problem yet those living in stone houses atop the hills live comfortably, while those stuck in the valley with makeshift houses have to fight to survive — the learning gap between learners from different slopes has only become more evident.
With her parents residing in a barangay several hours away from their actual household, harvesting sacks of onions to help them with their necessities, Joana Rondail, a 19-year-old sophomore student, is left at home at a small purok in Occidental Mindoro with her three younger siblings.
Rondail is then left to carry out their household responsibilities, her brothers’ school duties, and her personal obligations, while the three — her brothers 4, 9, and 12 — play under the scorching sun.
“No’ng nagsimula ’yung pandemic, ganado pa ’yan sila [her younger brothers],” Rondail says with an accusatory tone. “Sila pa ’yan ang naggagawa ng modules nila.”
However, as schools continue to employ remote setup due to the health insecurity caused by the pandemic, her younger brothers had lost their enthusiasm for pursuing their primary education.
“Ngayon ’yan, magalaro na lang ’yan sila sa labas,” she continues. True enough, she rarely sees her younger brothers during the day, as they are always climbing trees and messing a friend’s house up after play, while she’s busy attending to tasks that shouldn’t only be hers, to begin with.
“Magalinis ako. Hanggang alas-siyete (7 a.m.) ’yan. Tapos s’yempre, college student [ako], mag-aaral din ako [mula] alas-otso (8 a.m.),” Rondail notes, explaining that while being a college student entails a different set of responsibilities, one can never neglect the duties they have to their families. “[Pagpatak ng] alas-dose (12 n.n.), magaluto na ’yan ako ng tanghalian.”
Rondail is certain that if she weren’t with her siblings, then it would be fine for her not to have her lunch. “Kaso, alangan namang hindi ko sila pakainin,” she adds.
When it comes to her younger brothers’ academic requirements, on the other hand, their passivity towards their academic requirements combined with her personal troubles regarding school made her rarely bother to teach them the lessons and concepts included in their modules.
“Ako na talaga [ang gumagagawa],” Rondail admits without hesitation. “Ta’s alam mo ’yung mga answer key sa likod [ng module]? Kukunin ko na lang ’yung sagot do’n.”
Rondail is aware that her siblings barely learn anything from this system. But for someone who has to carry various obligations within their house while she tries to keep herself afloat, she'd rather swim and survive than teach. After all, survival is the utmost priority of those who reside in deep valleys and houses made out of sticks. A total opposite of those who live on the upper slope.
The pandemic has made it difficult for learners across the globe to learn and put their lessons into practice. But parents who are well-off have the financial capability to get the help they need in the form of tutors.
Florence Taruc, a teacher for 26 years and is currently the administrator head of Tongas School of Arts and Sciences in the United States, is one of these online tutors. She’s been giving tutorials to primary learners before and during the pandemic — the only difference is the medium.
“At first, ’di pa [sobrang] equipped with the technology,” she professes. “Luckily, attention span is not a problem for me. Minsan, bitin pa nga ’yung one hour namin.”
Even after switching to online platforms as her means of teaching, Taruc retains her learner-centered teaching style as reflected in her online tutorials. Her style includes keeping in touch with the tutees’ parents and teachers.
“Ang mga teachers nila [ay hinahanda] na ’yung mga lessons through powerpoints, [kaya] binibigay na lang nila [parents] sa’kin,” Taruc shares. She bases her online tutorials on these lessons and studies where her tutees are having difficulties in. “After that, we discuss together kung ano ’yung mga need niya [tutees], kung ano ’yung mga hindi niya maintindihan sa class.”
Furthermore, she doesn’t focus entirely on giving lectures to her tutees; she approaches the learning holistically by encouraging active participation and interaction from her students.
“Interactive siya [online tutorials],” Taruc says. “For example, ’yung bata, hindi naintindihan ’yung class, I have to reteach them the lesson. I [also] give activities to check kung talagang naiintindihan niya.”
The parents, despite their working schedules, also keep in touch with both her and their children’s school teachers to assess their children’s academic performance. It is, after all, the parent's choice to send their children to online tutorials according to Taruc.
“Parents talaga, lalo na [’yung mga galing] sa private school,” she mentions, “Or there are times naman [when] the parents are very busy.” Taruc explains that the parents’ decision to enroll them in online tutorials is to ensure that their children are learning and are excelling even without them teaching the children themselves.
This learning quality gifted by taking online tutorials, however, is a commodity not everyone can afford. In an informal survey conducted from March 16 to 23, out of 21 primary learners to secondary learners, only three have enrolled themselves in online tutorials. The rest relies on themselves, their parents, their older siblings, and their other relatives.
“Mahal din kasi [ang online tutorials],” Joana says with a frown. “Magpa-tutor ka pa [ba]?”
Still, Taruc knows that, for now, online tutorials are the most effective way to learn.
“Online tutorial kasi is a direct instruction, 'di ba? Whatever need nu’ng bata na skills, you have to [teach] directly,” she reminds. “Unlike in the school [where] you [teach them] in group. Hindi na nakikita ng teacher na 'yung mga bata pala, hindi na naiintindihan, especially through online.”
This is exactly Joana’s problem with her younger brothers’ education. Since they can’t afford tutorials, all she can do is worry about her brothers once they return to their schools in person.
“’Yun nga ’yun, ’pag [bumalik] na sila [sa face-to-face classes], hirap na talaga ’yan sila, lalo na ’yung 9-year-old kong kapatid,” she shares. “Kasi ’di ba, sa Grade 3, ginaaral ’yung multiplication, division, ta’s do’n talaga nagsisimula. Eh, nalampasan niya ’yun kasi Grade 2 siya no’ng nagka-pandemic. Ngayon, Grade 4 na siya. Magahirap na talaga siya ’yan.”
She can be nothing but grateful when her younger brothers’ school finally decided to hold a weekly check-in with their students. "Buti nga, ngayon, natuturuan na nila [teachers] 'yung mga bata isang araw sa isang linggo,” Joana sighs, expressing a little bit of hope for her younger brothers' future.
Joana is only one of the many people — including both learners and guardians — who have been struggling ever since the pandemic started. The pandemic has only further reinforced the already uneven privilege among them. Filipino learners have already had trouble dealing with the quality of education they receive prior to the pandemic. The quality of education pre-pandemic was never top-notch, to begin with, and the pandemic has only doubled the trouble.
She can only hope that by next school year, she and her siblings will have classes in-person again. Although she worries about her younger brothers being wired so differently than before the pandemic, she knows that at least with in-person classes, she and the other guardians wouldn’t have to act as their family’s teacher while also dealing with personal problems like being a student herself.
Indeed, the learning challenges the pandemic has brought upon are inevitable — like the sky that rains on every roof beneath its clouds. But not everyone is atop a hill: secured and comfortable in their houses made of stones and concrete — some strain themselves just to avoid sinking beneath requirements, chores, financial issues, and familial responsibilities.
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