Photo: Unsplash/Green Chameleon
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Philippines (ACT) on Saturday is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to release its grading system guidelines and to adjust these to be “humane” and “flexible.” In a Facebook post, ACT also noted that the education bureau should do away with its “old” and “stringent” metrics as learners and teachers adapt to a new way of education amid the pandemic.
ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio described the old evaluation system as challenging and even more impossible to comply with as many families are still struggling to adjust to remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said the old numeric grading system is “unfair”.
“Among the concerns raised by parents and teachers alike had to do with DepEd’s use of the old evaluation system for BE-LCP—performances, and written outputs each composes 40 percent while the last 20 percent goes to exams,” said Basilio in the Facebook post. “These were challenging to begin with pre-pandemic, now these will be impossible to meet with remote learning and will only be another burden to grappling families, while completely missing the aim of education.”
Basilio further explained how grades are typically computed through activities and output that is normally completed by students in groups or in a face-to-face classroom setting, something that will be difficult to accomplish with distance learning in place. He also pointed out technical and connectivity problems that limit students, especially those from disadvantaged families, to perform.
ACT is urging DepEd to adopt a “pass or fail” evaluation mechanism that is focused on a learner’s application of a lesson to a specific task within the home or in communities.
“This, to us, is more in keeping with education’s objective of arming our youth amid the crises, instead of alienating them from their surroundings and adding unnecessary pressure onto their lives,” added Basilio.
Classes are set to formally open on October 5.
