A MILITANT teachers’ group received reports on myriad issues regarding preparations on modular learning, aggravated further by the return to Modified Enhance Community Quarantine of Metro Manila and some provinces in Calabarzon.

“Reports show that schools which have begun module reproduction, print modules that were developed by schools and divisions as promised material from the central office remain unavailable. Neither had these materials been vetted by DepEd central office,” said Raymond Basilio, secretary-general of Alliance and Concerned Teachers, in a statement.

“Teachers were also disappointed that while they have been tasked to make the activity sheets that will come with the modules, they have not seen until today the copies of these modules, forcing them to just base the activity sheets on last year’s lessons.”

The printed module mode of education delivery is the top preference of parents in a survey made by the department among enrollees for school year 2020-2021.

The National Capital Region and Calabarzon have the biggest number of students enrolled or otherwise, out of the country’s 17 regions.

Teachers reported that sans the central office modules and with school opening just three weeks away, they have no alternative but to ‘make do’ with what they have or else students will have no materials to use come August 24.

“Reproduction cost is also a big problem as schools were forced to find ways to raise funds in so short a time, depleting the meager school MOOE (Maintaining and Other Operating Expenses), soliciting for private donations, and maximizing teachers’ personal printers just to jumpstart the reproduction,” said Basilio.

“Many reported that local government units help saved them from the problems, but local government units’ commitments in some areas were not yet delivered,” he added. “Some divisions have shared that they received a few hundred thousand pesos from the central office for module printing, but this would not even cover a tenth of the millions of pesos needed to reproduce the modules for the first grading period.”

The ACT official also bared some teachers are even being made to stay in school as late as 11 p.m. as their school/division implements a shifting schedule in order to finish the printing on time.

Other cases involve a ‘one grade level per day’ scheme in printing, collating, and organizing of learning pockets, where all the teachers for a particular year level will report on their assigned day of the week.

“Considering the imposition of MECQ in NCR and nearby provinces and the worsening health crisis preventing safe movement of teachers and staff, DepEd’s module preparation will further lag behind,” Basilio stressed.

“While we anticipate that teachers will again be unjustly made to make up for lost time and limited options, there won’t be enough room to ready the modules by August 24.”

With modular learning the main mode for the coming school year, ACT noted that DepEd is ‘severely unprepared’ for class resumption.

The group demands for the department’s contingency plan in the performance of its constitutional mandate, given its ‘failure to deliver’ the promises of learning continuity plan.

Sought for comment, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said the agency is funding to reproduce learning modules.

“We have downloaded funds down to division offices na, total of about P9 billion already,” Sevilla said, adding that guidelines on use of funds is under Department Order No. 18, s. 2020.

“The actual contributions from special education funds from the local government unit and from Brigada Eskwela shall be considered in the provision of funds to cover learning resources,” she said.

“Hence, the calibration and prioritization of funds are given at the regional and division levels as they are on the ground and have more accurate data in terms of actual enrollment and actual external contributions.”