Over the years, Bayanihan is a Filipino culture which emanates from coming and working together to achieve a desired goal. It promotes cooperation and initiative to do something better without expecting anything in return. This culture is very evident up to these days especially in schools where people come and work together for a noble purpose.

Brigada Eskwela ( BE) is a program that has evolved from a weeklong cleaning-up and beautification activities of students, teachers, school officials, parents, community members, local government officials, non-government organizations. Church group and the private sector. It has become one of the DepEd’s major initiatives in enjoining local communities to respond to the needs of public schools and be part of nationwide effort towards the improvement of the delivery of the Philippine basic education services.

With the onset of the pandemic, Brigada Eskwela was reconfigured into a more engaging program as a part of the curriculum in the new normal. BE focused on the planning and preparations of basic education continuity amidst the health crisis. It also strengthens partnership among stakeholders to ensure that learning continues even in the time of COVID-19. The activities highlighted the initiatives of the school and community which complement to the Department’s efforts to ensure quality basic education.

Considering the current situation, Brigada Eskwela remains in promoting Bayanihan in the school community. It ensures support for the provision of learning materials to provide learning opportunities while ensuring that the health , safety and well being of learners, teachers and personnel are protected. Brigada Eskwela is a mechanism which enable schools to catch up with the expectations for multiple learning delivery modalities. It also serves as one of the frontline initiatives reminding each Filipino of their involvement as stakeholders in the education system. Relative to this, the support system in addressing the need of the public schools under the new normal is highly encouraged. We all endeavor to solve the challenges to later achieve the Department’s Vision and Mission.

Schools, through the headship of school heads, maximize their best in encouraging and engaging partners as donors and benefactors. Barangay councils, alumni and other volunteers make possible that health and sanitation materials such as thermal scanners, alcohol, anti-bacterial soap, disinfectants, washable face masks, surgical face masks and face shields be available in school and in different learning outlets of the community.

Moreover, some benevolent benefactors and donors provided bond papers, inks and other supplies needed for the reproduction of modules including notebooks, ball pens, pencils and other educational materials used by the learners. This was made possible through the help of civic-spirited donors who shared their resources and wealth in the school.

Indeed, Brigada Eskwela still remains to promote Bayanihan in the school and it serves as one of the DepEd’s mode of genuine actions to reminds everyone to involve ourselves especially in this trying time. Let us together continue bringing quality education among learners through the BE. Let us conquer the battle against pandemic and let us all maintain the spirit of Bayanihan in our hearts and minds.

A teacher must be dedicated to the notion of change. Typically, people resist change, they are afraid of it, but once you became a teacher, expect changes. As Heraclitus states “the only constant in life is change”. Changes are a normal part of our life, it is also amazing how we have our own resiliency and ability to recover from, or adjust easily to, change.

One of the major changes that we all face at this present time is the change that was brought by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The latter pandemic put the whole world into a standstill. The nature that we have taken for granted for so long make us rethink and realize that we are all slave of nature. And we will all adjust based on what nature dictates.

With the advent of COVID-19 Pandemic, the Educational Sectors were faced with peculiar challenges. One of the irrefutable losses of such is in how veterans or older teachers, in various forms are forced to adjust and in all of a sudden, be a tech wiz to cope up with the present situation because education may never be the same again due to pandemic prevalence.

Prior to this new normal of Education, coping with the modern technology is already a challenging task for our veteran teachers. It would be difficult for them to adapt to online learning even with a proper amount of time to prepare. It is not something they have grown up with and it is not something that is comparable to in-person learning at all.

The mere fact that online class is not something our veteran teachers are molded to make the latter even more challenging. Many of them lack training in new technologies and are not sure how technology may affect their lesson.

There should be a sensitivity to the challenges these teachers face and “a manageable expectation of what is possible” as they adjust to moving lessons online while maintaining relationship with their students. They cannot be expected to have everything down pat and perfect during this time of turmoil and vagueness. Nevertheless, old teachers should not be intimidated by technology. They should use every opportunity to learn new digital skills.

Technology integration appears “worth the time sacrificed or the learning curve endured”. The hindrance includes lack of access to technology and lack of technical support. Moreover, teachers feel inadequately prepared to integrate computer technology into their curricula and instruction.

Teaching and learning with technology often requires teachers to adopt a more constructivist pedagogy. Consequently, innovation is met with resistance. Several approaches have been recommended for teachers to learn computer technology.

Young Teachers and Veteran Teachers must work together as a team in order to incorporate the new capabilities that technology presents. Furthermore, collaboration and observation with effective users of technology is the best training. However, if teachers do not follow up and practice training lessons, training is a waste of time.

Students are becoming more and more adept at using technology as an educational resource however, many teachers are not keeping pace with their students considering also how to bridge the age gap.

Some of the issues veteran teachers or even novice teachers can face relate to the technology itself. Others relate to student or parent expectations, or whether there’s adequate professional development to aid teachers become prolific in digital technology.

The pressure to become digital experts for our veteran teacher is really high. Students might be “digital natives”, but they depend on their teachers to learn through digital means. Many teachers struggle despite substantial resources allotted to integrating technology. In a typical classroom setting, introduced technology is not always preferred but in today’s education we have no choice but to shift to online learning. In online learning, it is easier for students to get distracted. It is really a challenging task for veteran teachers to have their attention.

Internet lagging can affect lesson time and flow. Lessons are interrupted by slow internet connection. Digital technology training and preparing lessons to include new technologies can also be time consuming.

To conclude, there is no single technological solution that applies for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching. Rest assured, our veteran teachers are doing their very best in an extraordinary and relentlessly changing situation. So, to our veteran teachers struggling on how to deal with online classes, “technology is not hard as it seem. It only requires the zeal to learn and of course commitment.”