LetterFromManila

Lost year for Filipino schoolchildren as remote learning fails

Poor digital infrastructure a hindrance, while students not primed for learning outside classroom

Grade 3 pupil Mary Florendo, eight, working on her learning modules in her Manila home with help from her mother in November, when schools were closed during the coronavirus pandemic. "It's important for me to finish my studies so I can help my paren
Grade 3 pupil Mary Florendo, eight, working on her learning modules in her Manila home with help from her mother in November, when schools were closed during the coronavirus pandemic. "It's important for me to finish my studies so I can help my parents in the future," she said. PHOTO: REUTERS
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MANILA • Over the past three months, I've mastered the photo editing app GIMP and the design tools offered by the website Canva, relearnt how to multiply and divide fractions and extract square roots by longhand, and revisited biblical tales.

I'm not on any learning journey while keeping to the house during the pandemic. I was compelled essentially to go back to school to help my son, who is in Grade 7, with his online education.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on April 04, 2021, with the headline Lost year for Filipino schoolchildren as remote learning fails. Subscribe