WHEN it comes to on-the-job training,  most graduating students prefer to hone their skills on site rather than virtually.

According to the Commission on Higher Education, limited face-to-face set up is not mandatory and higher education institutions have the power to decide when they want to conduct the training.

Elizabeth Padayao, a student from the New Era University, shared her OJT experience.

“Mahirap, na-realize ko rin na hindi talaga gano’n kadali ‘yung magturo sa online class. Madami dapat i-consider and bigla kong na-appreciate ‘yung ginagawa ng mga teachers for their students. To be honest unang pasok ko sa field sobrang nangapa ako, pero sa tulong din ng aking resource teacher mas nagkaroon ako ng idea paano i-handle ‘yung klase,” said Padayao.

She admitted that slow Internet connection was the biggest problem for both teachers and students.

“Madalas ‘yung resource teacher nawawalan ng net, ako ‘yung taga-salo,” she added.

Padayao said that face-to-face set up is best because there are less distractions.

Meanwhile, Charnamy Marin, a journalism student from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, described her experience as dejecting because of the inadequacy and inconvenience of distance learning.

“The concept of gaining experience is highly compromised. Although my supervisor is trying his best to accommodate us, it is still far from what an effective internship should be,” Marin said.

Marin shared how communicating is one of her struggles with the online set up.

“I’m having a hard time communicating with my supervisor, there’s a major delay in relaying tasks and inquiries. At the same time, I’m also not receiving enough feedback from him regarding my submitted tasks, which hinders my main purpose of completing this internship—to acquire genuine advice from professional journalists while witnessing how the media industry works,” she said.

Danica Gomez, an Information Technology major from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina, shared her experienced assisting the school’s office.

“’Yung pinaka-struggle lang naman for me e kapag kulang ‘yung info na inilalagay ng students sa mga requirements, kasi kailangan tawagan or kailangan papuntahin tapos s’yempre ‘pag pumunta ‘di maiiwasan na may contact, ‘yung worry lang e baka may asymptomatic na nakakapasok,” said Gomez.