TBK Tells- Haircuts , Cameras off and ACTION!

 

 The Barbers have been busy- short hair is mandatory at school here in the Philippines

      The new VP is now in charge of Dep Ed ( daughter of the previous President)

Since Sarah Duterte took over at Dep Ed and announced EVERYONE ( apart form PSU of course!) would return to Face to face Classes ( F2F) on Monday 22 August, the school uniform shops have been really busy!

     Her announcement surprised many but was welcomed by others

      Mick and Maggie's kids looking very smart in their new uniforms

Parents have breathed a huge sigh of relief at the fact that finally their offspring would be out of the house and back learning face to face from the teachers rather being bored to tears by online learning and modules. 

                             Some of the online learning they use here

Not all the kids were happy to get their new uniforms on and get out of the house though - as we spotted Ed looking grumpy on his mum's Facebook page:

                                Cheer up Ed , you will be back home soon!

The elder kids were back at school as well, some for the first time in University like my houseboy Jovan who looked very smart in the pics he sent me:

                                                   Jovan on his first day at PSU

After a turbulent few weeks however not all of PSU ( Palawan State University ) was able to resume Face To Face classes. They had a major Computer malfunction delaying registration, enrollment and scheduling and many students in the Education Department received this message:

Strange after so long with no face to face classes they should choose the first week back to have a week of teacher training. The Aborlan campus started back last week but received the same message this week. Good luck to Grecil who is studying to be a teacher there:

                                   Grecil ready to return to school

Up in the north of Palawan my former Houseboy , Julios, sent me pictures of his first day back at school after a long time at home looking after his mum who was ill here in Puerto. He is now trying to catch up, like many others on the schooling he missed. I have promised him a special gift if he graduates with good grades.

                       Study hard Julios, it will all be worth it in the end

At the younger end of the scale Matilda ( now age 5) started her first day of school with her Nanay Nora today. Her mum, Rhoda, sent me this pic- work hard Matilda!

Richelle's boys Kobe and JP were also hard at work . JP is at Lamoro elementary school. Work hard boys and keep off the on line gaming! Ritchelle sent me this pic of JP who looks older, taller and smarter every time I see him!

I have sponsored Aimae since 2017 through Friends of Hope where she was studying at Aberawan Elementary school. Good luck for the new school year Aimae.

I hope you can repeat your excellent performance from last year Aimae!

Some of the other scholars I sponsor were studying online today in Puerto like Jhoanna. Her sister, Elay, who just turned 18 and who is my last scholar for this year is starting at WPU studying Bachelor of Science Entrepreneurs . Work hard Elay, Eat that Palaka and remember the rules. I cannot wait to attend all your graduation ceremonies as the years progress. TJ and Jhoanna graduate in 2023 then Grecil, then Kit and finally Elay in 2026.

Jhoanna and her Pogi friends at PSU

I have to say that having now retired from teaching for 18 months I am glad I am not one of the teachers returning to work today. There has been much coverage that Pinoy kids are two years behind where they should be due to COV 19 and not attending school for a year for Face to face classes.

Delivering an ILM workshop on line In Bahrain in 2020 during COV 19

In my last year in Bahrain I ran online workshops for my ILM 2 and 3 Programmes, for the Diploma Programme, for the University of Bahrain and many other groups I taught. It is a completely different set of skills ( IT based) to manage the slides, look at the camera, answer delegate questions and be observant as to which students have been quiet for a long time. I also missed the delegate interaction and experiential learning which formed some 50% of my programmes. As a student it is very hard to sit at at computer and be lectured at for long periods.

One of the MTA Exercises, Over the Bridge that we used on day 1 of ILM 2

Many people think online learning is something new created for COV 19 but around 1990 we were using it in Little Chef for Food safety training, fire Training, The customer service pledge and more. Back then we called it CBT or Computer Based Training and with 350 restaurants all over the UK we knew who had completed what training for how long and what score they had achieved on their test day by day.

As part of my role in designing the training packs I worked with the CBT designers to put the paper based training on line. It was amazing what they could do back then , and of course now the graphics are far better. At one point I was asked to carry out a study on the retention of information from the online learning compared to face to face training for our Food safety programme. Because of the lack of interaction on line the level of retention 6 months after the online programme was much lower than for those who attended the face to face classes.

      Back to class in Palawan

If you are in a group of students at school and you do not understand something you can ask the teacher or a friend, but that is not possible studying at home. I was very lucky to work in the Middle East where my students had laptops, good Wi-Fi connection and a private place in which to study but that is rarely available here in the Philippines.

I read this piece online recently:

"About 53% of students surveyed were not sure if they could learn the competencies set by DepEd for their grade level under distance learning, and only 7 in 10 were confident of finishing the school year.

Online class attendance was also a persistent problem, with 87% of students flagging unstable internet connections.

"The majority of our students come from low-income households, or those most hit in the economic recession brought about by the pandemic. Some belong in homes that house two to three families, with only one or two gadgets shared by multiple learners," explained Raymond Basilio, secretary-general of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. The government is essentially forcing these families to choose between putting food on the table and ensuring their children's education as they reel from the various effects of a bungled pandemic handling," he added."

Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/Philippine-children-are-left-behind-by-poor-distance-learning2 ( accessed 22.8.22)                                             

Another friend who started Uni for the first time today was Jayvee Bebit who was working at Nano print and produced the banners for Jhoanna and Elay's birthdays and our Christmas party. He is now a student at PSU studying Financial Management.

Good luck , Jayvee!

                                    Jayvee from his Facebook page

Some colleges are starting later like Western Philippines University ( WPU) where the Criminology programme does not resume until 5 September. I sponsor Jhoanna's cousin Kit on that at the El Nido Campus. 

       TBK bonding with Kit and his parents at Sunmai when I visited in July

To all of you- kids, parents, teachers good luck and let us hope that we never have another pandemic in our lifetime. Education is so important to kids, which is why I share my good fortune with 6 scholars around Palawan. I know many others both here and overseas who also support family members and those less fortunate than themselves. I salute each and every one of you. If you are reading this and would like to sponsor a kid then please get in touch with Mama Jam at Friends of HOPE. ( Friends of HOPE Facebook page) 

Finally I would like to thank all the proud mums who let me use the pictures of their kids for this special blog- Maggie, Agnes, Ritchelle, Rhoda and all my anaks and friends who send in their pics ( Julios, Jhoanna, TJ, Luis, Jovan, Frythy and Noel )

Let me end with this picture which Rhoda just sent me- I think it sums it up

     Happy to be back - be it pre school, elementary, High school or University!