by: Rinalyn Cueto
Time is gold.
Cliché as it may sound but it’s true. Time is precious. Once lost, we cannot turn back moments that passed. Hence, it should not be wasted but instead should be spent on things and events that make the time worthwhile.
During the pandemic, the world seemed to have experienced time to slow down, even stop. The morning and late-night rush hours became some distant memory we only could replay in mind. We, students, forgot what an eight-hour full schedule felt like because distance learning allowed us to manipulate our time and let us decide when to do the tasks assigned to us. Somehow, it felt like we were free although we were tied down in the comfort of our homes.
After more than two years, the Department of Education began the transition and then implemented full face-to-face classes to mark the pacing from the “new normal” to the “usual” methods of learning. On November 2, Malvar Senior High School welcomed a more than 50% increase in enrollment from the previous year. And because the number of learners is overwhelming, the institution shifted from the traditional eight-hour to a shifting schedule. Hence, Grade 11 learners were given the morning shift (6:00-11:00 a. m.) while Grade 12 learners were assigned the afternoon shift (12:30-6:00 p.m.).
It's a relief to have come back to the old ways of doing school. It’s exciting to see familiar faces again. It’s stimulating to listen to our teachers facilitating learning just like before. It’s even thrilling to come to class with a new learning experience to look forward to, unlike during the pandemic when we bore ourselves to death to understand concepts that we encountered for the first time but had to grasp to be able to answer our dear self-learning modules. I guess it’s really a good thing to have in-person classes. Or, maybe it was just what I thought.
I have friends and acquaintances who hail from adjacent municipalities of Tanauan, Sto. Tomas, and Lipa. I myself came from a far municipality although I am luckier because I don’t need to commute since I am fetched by my father. But the thought that these learners have to go to school every day at 5:00 a. m. or earlier than that to attend their 6:00 a.m. class or those who have to go home at 6:00 p. m. They have to trudge the dark path going to and from school to arrive or go home on time. The thoughts of the kind of danger they may encounter during these times made me think twice about this whole back-to-the-normal setup. I mean, don’t these times pose danger to them? Not all students could be fetched by their parents or guardians. Not everyone has a car or service of his own. Can the school guarantee their safety? I am very hopeful about that.
We are racing against time maybe because of all the time for education that we had been deprived of during the pandemic that we would like to replace or make up for it. I know that we are maximizing our meager resources to meet an urgent need and that we are excited with the thought that we are finally getting back on our feet with time. But is this really safe for all of us? Or do we still need…MORE TIME?
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