Education and the Pandemic: Examining Students’ Remote Learning Experiences in the Philippines

Abstract

The global outbreak brought about by the Covid-19 not only affected the economic and health sectors but also hardly hit the education sector. The need for schools to temporarily shut down their face-to-face classes has resulted in educational institutions, particularly the Philippine Department of Education, to rethink the way they adapt to the current educational context. The implementation of distance learning modalities through its learning continuity plan paved the way for Filipino learners to resort to various learning modalities to address students’ learning needs in this time of emergency remote education. Hence, this study aims to investigate the lived experiences of Filipino senior high school students who have been immersed in emergency remote learning during the school year 2020-2021. Interestingly, there were three themes that were revealed to deeply understand the experiences of the participants: digital technology divide, independent study and sense of learning responsibility, and financial capabilities and resources. Each of these themes presents underlying issues and concerns that are noteworthy to be listened considering that the current Philippine education system is still struggling to adjust with the current new normal context of education. Therefore, the voices of the participants in this study provide a reflection of their untiring learning journey in this time of the pandemic crisis that requires understanding and appreciation towards having a safe and inclusive space to make education attainable for all.