Education and Therapy Continuity Plan
Birthright has been a very active advocate for Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Management. We have trained parents, students, and government employees on the subject and we are one of the main advocates of this campaign in Muntinlupa City. However, we have not been prepared for this pandemic and the eventual lockdown of Metro Manila. All of us were caught in surprise and for a while, was at a loss. But what was initially perceived as a temporary disruption of operations has turned into something more permanent in nature, the “new normal” in a General Enhanced Community Quarantine.
The sudden transition to implement remote learning strategies brought many challenges to our management, faculty and Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) workers who readily responded and adapted to the challenges.
The sudden need to do remote delivery of services to our students and clients during the 4th quarter of School Year 2019-2020 brought some challenges – readiness of homes, connectivity, and adjustments both to teachers and students. This is where we have an advantage. The curricular program we are using in our core subjects, the School of Tomorrow ® System, provides proven and tested self-learning materials that could be used by schools and families in different settings. This is part of the framework of The Birthright Educators Foundation (Birthright).
The network which has been developed by Birthright through CBID advocacy also helped in reaching out to the clients in the community and continue the delivery of assistance among children with disabilities.
Part of TBEF’s preparedness for extended school closures has long been set in place. The flexibility of the curriculum with the use of workbooks called PACEs, allows for a smooth transition from a classroom setting to a home setting. Lessons are not shortened, concepts are not skipped, and therefore, learning is not compromised. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and those with Attention Deficit Disorder were all provided with activities at home that would put their time to good use and avoid their tantrums and meltdowns.
Teachers were reachable for parents’ consultation through social media and group chats in Messenger. One- on -one teachers also continued guiding the parents on activities that parents could implement at home for their children. Other children had one-on-one sessions with their special teacher through Messenger and video calls. Other children have been provided home programs at the beginning of the year so parents who did not send their children to Birthright had a ready set of activities to be implemented at home for their child with a disability.
When Metro Manila was placed under the Enhanced Community Quarantine, TBEF shifted to what School of Tomorrow ® Philippines calls “Remote Learning Center Education.” It also turned to its networks of workers in Muntinlupa and San Pedro to continue to serve the children with disabilities.
The network which has already been established by Birthright with leaders and government department heads dealing with disability concerned groups - the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office, the Federation of Persons with Disabilities of Muntinlupa, the Barangay Tunasan PWD organization, the Kababaehang Agapay ng Pamilya’t mga Yagit in Southside, and the Muntinlupa Down Syndrome Association, all enabled the foundation to continue its delivery of service to the marginalized PWD and children during the lockdown. All these groups have been instrumental in reaching out and assisting Persons and Children with Disabilities (PCWD) during the lockdown.
THE REMOTE LEARNING CENTER EDUCATION
The Remote Learning Center Education (or referred to as RLCE in this document) was implemented by TBEF from March 16 to April 24 to complete the school year. We referred to it as “Students work at home while teachers work from home.” We employed the same Learning Center procedures and transported it to home settings but the students remained under the facilitators of learning – class supervisors and monitors through online communication, basically with the use of Facebook Messenger. Video group chats and FB. Messenger - as main platforms were used for group “meetings” and discussions but the remote supervision was done, basically, through one-on-one chat between the teacher and the student.
Parents and guardians served as on-site partners in making sure that the students are doing their work properly.
The RLCE is part of the BLENDED LEARNING DELIVERY MODE. It is Distance Education using Modular Learning self-instructional materials (PACES) and Online Learning platforms for classes, supervision, and discussion. The other part of blended delivery mode is the face-to-face learning, which will resume when the quarantine is lifted.
RLCE from School of Tomorrow ® Philippines defines RLCE as –“The Remote Learning Center Education is SOT®P’s modified, alternative, and flexible system of learning in response to the “new normal” brought about by the global pandemic. It is an alternative mode of education that takes place through different communication means like online or correspondence where students do not have to be physically present in a particular location for face-to-face interaction. “Remote, simply defined, means distant in face-to-face relationship or connection. Partnership with parents is still continued and even more reinforced.“ The procedures which can be modified will depend on the LGU’s precautionary measures where a school using the system is located and the capacity of the school.“It is a temporary arrangement to address social distancing concerns while waiting for a concrete solution to the Covid-19 crisis will be applied.”
PREPARATION FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2020-2021
Planning ahead helps ensure the effective delivery of educational services to learners. The experience with a remote learning mode during the last quarter gave us an opportunity to be prepared for the challenges of the coming school year. The “first round” last March and April was a response to a sudden disruption of classes. While we have found a degree of success in the implementation of a remote delivery system, we were also able to identify problem areas, especially critical ones, and thereby prepare better strategies to approach the current pandemic situation. We shall be adopting a more improved Remote Learning Center Education by fine-tuning the procedures and using more online platforms.