By Jethro Bryan Andrada; photo by Jobelle Ruth Mila
She had spent her entire career teaching, and she decided not even the pandemic would stop her.
In her 25 years as an elementary teacher, 50-year-old Josephine Mila has certainly seen a lot. She has watched colleagues come and go, and batch after batch of pupils graduate. She has never seen a global pandemic, though, and like the rest of us, she was caught unaware.
Education has suffered because of COVID-19. Data from the Department of Education (DepEd) shows that more than 10 percent of students were not able to enroll for this school year. Those who have chosen to continue have their own problems, as adjusting to the lack of actual classes is proving to be difficult.
Teachers like Mila are no exemption. Forcibly thrust into a distance learning setup, she has tried all means available so she could keep teaching like she used to, but like most people her age, she struggled with technology.
Using modules became the usual way teachers did things when the school year began, but she believed there had to be more. “Sumasagot sila niyan (modules) for compliance, pero walang learning.”
(They answer those for compliance, but there is no learning)
Frustrated, she took stock of her students. Some of them lived far away, but most were nearby. The gears in her head started to turn. COVID-19 had already robbed her of her physical classroom. She would not allow it to take her will to teach, too.
‘Hindi sila matututo sa ganitong klaseng setup’
Mila talked to the parents of her students and arranged for them to come to her house so she could personally teach them.
“Yung mga batang nais talagang matuto, binibigyan ko sila ng pagkakataon na magka-tutorial class. Ang kanilang mga tahanan ay malapit lang din dito sa bahay,” Mila explained, “yung mga malalayo naman, hinahatid ng mga magulang nila.”
(“For the kids who really want to learn, I give them tutorial classes. Their homes are near,” Mila explained, “those who live far away are taken here by their parents.”)
They usually conduct these face-to-face sessions in the terrace of Mila’s house in the afternoon, while also practicing safety protocols. Before the kids arrive, she and her family are busy setting up tables and preparing snacks for their guests.
Jobelle, her 20-year-old daughter, said she admired her mother’s dedication. “Madalas kong nakikita si mama na nireready yung mga materials like sa reading or sa math, inaayos pa niya sa mga table para uupo na lang yung mga bata tapos nakaprepare na lahat.”
(“I usually see mama readying the materials for reading and math. She fixes the tables so all the kids have to do is sit down because everything is in place already.”)
For an hour and a half, Mila teaches the kids. She usually gives them a few written exercises. When the kids have a hard time answering, she steps in to try and help them. She also has her students read a few children's books out loud, she then gives comments about their performances after.
When asked if she thought her pupils were not learning under the tutelage of their parents, she cracked a laugh, saying teaching is different when an actual teacher is doing it compared to when a parent is.
“Hindi sila matututo sa ganitong klaseng setup,” Mila claimed, “kung ang guro ang nagtuturo sa kanila, andoon yung respect so susunod sila, pero dahil magulang ang nagtuturo, di nakapokus ang mga bata. May boundary kasi, alam nilang nanay nila yun kaya baka hirap silang tignan siya bilang guro.”
(“They are not going to learn in this kind of setup,” Mila claimed, “they respect their teachers, but if a parent teaches them, they lose focus. There’s a boundary. They know that’s their mom so they find it hard to see her as a teacher.”)
Unfortunately, not all her students are able to come to these tutorial sessions, but Mila has also found a workaround to this problem.
“May isang batang hindi nakapunta, kaya ang desisyon ko ay pupuntahan ko siya para matulungan at mabigyan ng remedial class,” she said.
(“One kid can’t go, so my decision is I’ll go to him so I can give him a remedial class,” she said.)
‘Napakahirap’
As positive as Mila has chosen to be during the current setup, she admits that doing her job is still exhausting. “On a scale of one to ten, I give it an eight [difficulty of teaching]. Ang pagtuturo ngayon ay napakahirap in terms of gadgets, strategy, and learning process.”
(“On a scale of one to ten, I give it an eight [difficulty of teaching]. Teaching today is so hard in terms of gadgets, strategy, and learning process.”)
She points out that she and other teachers, like many students, have to bear the weight of house chores while also working on her duties in school. “Naranasan ko na rin ‘yan, yung di ko alam kung sa school pa ba yung ginagawa ko kasi nag-ooverlap talaga ang work sa house, work sa school, multitasking talaga.”
(“I’ve experienced that, too, when I don’t know if what I’m doing is for school because housework and school work really do overlap. It’s a matter of multitasking.”)
She also says she is used to sacrificing weekends and time with her family just so she can finish checking papers and printing learning materials.
“Ang hindi ko makakalimutan ay yung sabi niya matutulog na daw siya para magising siya nang maaga kinabukasan, pero pamaya-maya, di daw siya makatulog hangga’t di niya natatapos yung kailangan niyang gawin,” Jobelle relayed, “tapos natulog na ako, tapos pagkagising ko gumagawa pa rin siya, nagpiprint ng modules.”
(“What I can’t forget is when she said she was going to sleep so she could wake up early the next daw, but later she said she couldn’t sleep till she finished all her work,” Jobelle relayed, “then I slept, but when I woke up she was still working, printing modules.”)
Jobelle says that as a college student, she was able to relate to her mother’s decision of sacrificing proper sleep and rest just to finish needed tasks.
The shift to an online mode of education has proved even more troublesome for Mrs. Mila and Jobelle because in their area in Zambales, a five-minute walk away from the coast, there is no signal even for text messaging.
“Lumalabas pa kami para i-download mga modules saka para makaattend sa webinars kahit mahirap,” Mila relented.
(“We need to get out of the house to download modules and to attend webinars even though it is difficult,” Mila relented.)
‘Alamin ng nasa itaas kung ano yung...problema sa baba’
When asked if teachers got any assistance from the government, Mila smiled and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “Nakareceive ang guro ng wifi modem...then yung modules for first and second week nanggaling sa DepEd national, after that, wala na. Kung sa financial naman, wala, yung sweldo lang namin.”
(Teachers received a wifi modem...then the modules for the first and second week came from DepEd national, nothing came after that. Regarding financial support, there was none. Only our salaries.”)
She explained that schools were left to their own devices to produce modules for students. “In-house printing na ang nangyari which is nanggagaling naman sa fund ng school. Di sapat yung fund...dahil ang printing ng modules namin ay 50 percent lang, pero dapat 100% para maging one-is-to-one.”
(“What happens is in-house printing which comes from the school fund. The fund is not enough, because our printing of modules is only 50 percent, when it should be 100% so that the modules are one-is-to-one.”)
Mila explained that their school was even lucky to have as much as it did because of generous donations from shareholders. Now that funds are dwindling, they are again on the lookout for donors.
“May instances talaga na kukuha kami sa sariling bulsa, kagayak ng ink,” she vented, “nauubusan tapos walang pambili ang school, edi bibili ka kasi walang pangprint at hindi pwedeng mag-stop dahil kailangan ng modules.”
(“There really are instances when we have to use our own money, like when we need ink,” she vented, “it runs out, and the school cannot buy any, so you have to buy because then you cannot print, and you cannot just stop because they need modules.”)
For DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones, who said in Oct. 2020 that the opening of the school year was a victory, Mila had this to say: “tagumpay dahil tuloy ang klase, pero kung ang aim ng DepEd ay to achieve quality education, doon hindi natin masasabing tagumpay.”
(“It is a victory because classes went on, but if DepEd’s aim was quality education, then we cannot say it was a victory.”)
For Mila, the heads of DepEd should study the condition of their constituents well, “dapat alamin ng nasa itaas kung ano yung pinakaroots ng problem sa baba, kung ano kailangan naming mga tagasunod, saka yung mga bata para sila matuto.”
(“Those at the top should know the roots of the problem at the bottom, what the constituents and the kids need so they can learn.”)
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