Not-FR No.: I lost count
- May 26, 2021
- 7 min read
Not-FR No.: I lost count
EVALUATION OF LIFE UNDER “NEW NORMAL”
The Writer (1)
The Aurum Newsletter
“ABSTRACT”
One year and two months since the Philippine government put the country in lockdown and still we have not put the local transmission of the virus under control. Over 1M total cases and around 19K deaths and it seems like these numbers are not going to plateau anytime soon. More than a school year of online classes and students and teachers alike are feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, and unproductive. With the pandemic response still not being effective, it’s likely that the online setup of learning will continue to be employed with more students likely to dropout. The pandemic has taken a toll on the country’s economic, education, and especially the healthcare sectors. It has made Filipinos tired of sitting at home and being on lockdown and angry, calling for a faster, more effective pandemic response especially on vaccine rollout. It is therefore imperative to register to vote in the coming elections and elect leaders that work for the people and hold the current government accountable for the losses the country endured in this more-than-one-year pandemic.
KEYWORDS: COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic response, online classes, mental health
“INTRODUCTION”
Going into college, I was high in energy. I qualified for admission in UP Manila under the degree program I placed as my first choice. I was excited to meet new people, explore new environments, learn new concepts, and practice new techniques in the lab.
Two years later, I had already lost a huge chunk of said energy. Still, I looked forward to my classes in 3rd and 4th year and I was excited to do more for my orgs. Despite the academic stress and occasional burnout I experienced, I was able to push through knowing I had friends to go out and eat with after every exam, classmates to talk to in the hallways, professors to learn from in classes, and orgmates to joke around with around UP Manila and Diliman. The situation was bearable, and even fun at times.
Then 2020 happened. It started off terribly with news about the Taal eruption and the new virus infecting people in China. Some school days were suspended and relief efforts came pouring in for those displaced by the eruption. As a tired student, I enjoyed these suspended school days.
As the weeks went on, the threat of the virus, then called 2019-nCoV and now SARS-CoV-2, spiked leading people to be more wary, and several people to hoard face masks and alcohol supplies. Rallies on social media were staged, urging the President to lock borders and prevent people from countries with high infection rates from coming into the country. Filipinos were scared, but it seemed like the President was not. He ignored the calls to lock borders and instead beckoned everyone to stop being xenophobic. It wasn’t xenophobia; it was a valid concern for the well-being of all Filipinos.
Weeks went by and the threat continued to rise. Finally, on March 12, the President announced that Metro Manila will be placed on lockdown starting March 15, giving everyone around three days to prepare. My family also scrambled to get plane tickets so that we could go home to the province before the lockdown.
My sister and I were hesitant to go home. We thought of using this one-week lockdown to work on our academic backlogs and rest. However, at around 1 AM on March 14, our aunt booked us a flight to Bicol scheduled at 5AM. We quickly packed a bag each with clothes, brought our school bags with us so that we could at least do some academic work in the province, booked a Grab ride to the airport, and at 6:30 AM, we were inside our home in Albay.
One year and two months later, I’m still here in the province, my mental health deteriorating, and my backlogs piling up. I am no longer enjoying any of my classes because online classes just don’t work for me.
With that, this essay primarily aims to share with you how life has been like under this “new normal.” Specifically, this essay aims to present objective and subjective data with regards to the government’s pandemic response, efficacy of online classes, and status of the general population’s well-being.
“RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS”
The Philippines is one of the countries that is yet to control the local transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The government’s primary response to this COVID-19 pandemic is to impose lockdown periods in areas with high infection rates, leading the country to have one of the longest lockdown periods in the world. Currently, there are 1, 171, 403 total cases and 19 763 total deaths recorded in the country (Figure 1).
The numbers above are based on the reported data from DOH, not accounting the backlogs in confirmation and reporting of test results, never mind the fact that the government never really imposed mass testing and there may still be untested cases.
These numbers provide a constant state of worry, fear and caution among Filipinos. My family, like any other family, has been extra cautious when going out, leaving only for essential errands. Despite this, we still had to go into self-imposed quarantine after coming in contact with a COVID-positive person. Other families, on the other hand, have to go out daily to earn money and find sustenance amid the pandemic, making them more susceptible to contracting the virus.
Because the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has not yet been put under control, schools were forced to resort to the online mode of learning, furthering the economic divide as many students are not well-equipped with gadgets and internet connection to attend online classes.
This negatively affected the number of enrollees in all school levels. In fact, according to the Department of Education, around 3M were not enrolled for school year 2020-2021, and, comparing the enrollment rate this year from last school year in all school levels, a 10% drop was recorded.
Those who did enroll, however, expressed dissatisfaction on the way online classes are being held. The new way of conducting students left both students and professors not completely prepared, leading to negative effects on student performance and especially on students’ mental health.
I, for example, personally feel that my academic performance has been at its poorest this semester. I understand that professors are adjusting, too, and that education should not be put on hold as we adjust into this new normal, but echoing what my fellow college students say, everything feels overwhelming.
Figure 2. Comparison of academic workload in “new normal” vs previous semesters (Meme from knowyourmeme.com).
Figure 2 is a perfect depiction of, in my opinion, the amount of workload given to students in this “new normal.” The weight of our workload, no matter how easy or how few they are, feels much heavier because of the various responsibilities we have to juggle alongside school. Because of the continuous rise in cases, and the fall in the economy, students have to help out in family matters more this school year than in previous years, making it difficult to focus on school alone. The sudden intersection of work and home life takes a toll on students' well-being which could explain the feeling of burnout, deterioration of mental health, and willingness to dropout in the next semesters should online classes continue. As long as the government does not properly handle this pandemic, it is likely that I, and the rest of the student population, will be wasting the rest of our school years at home, attending online classes.
And this dissatisfaction with regards to the conduct of online classes is also shared by teachers. Not only did they have to suddenly master the mechanics of online learning platforms such as Zoom, Canvas, and others, they also had to shell out money to equip themselves with gadgets and internet connection to try and deliver lessons as smoothly as possible. This budget could have been allotted for more important things but of course, not doing so would put themselves at risk of their source of income, which is worse. At the end of the day, the online setup of learning, despite it being a learning opportunity for students and teachers alike, will continue to present difficulties for a lot of stakeholders, which is exactly why more and more people are calling for #LigtasNaBalikEskwela. To achieve this, however, plans need to be implemented to ensure the safety of students, teachers, school personnel, and the general public.
Currently, measures are being taken to boost the immune response of the people against the virus and this is through vaccination. However, around only 2.5M Filipinos have been vaccinated, 1.86% of the population have had their first dose and only 0.47% have had two doses. At this rate, it is expected that herd immunity will be achieved in around five years’ time. The Filipinos are tired already after being on lockdown for so long and now, it’s possible that the immunity boost that they need may not be given, since around 2M doses of vaccines are expected to expire in two months and the country only records around 75k vaccinations daily.
With this, I don’t really know what to look forward to anymore. I, like the majority of the population, am not vaccinated yet so I really can’t go around places and take breathers as it isn’t safe yet. Online classes don’t work for me, as with many other students, and I am seriously considering going on LOA next semester. The things and people that made my previous semesters bearable are nowhere near me, and talking on video call is just not the same as talking to them face-to-face. I guess the only thing left to do now is register to vote for the 2022 elections and pray that we elect leaders that put forth the interest and well-being of the Filipinos above all.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In conclusion, the Philippines has one of the worst pandemic responses and longest lockdown periods worldwide. Moreover, the online setup of learning is counterproductive for a huge proportion of the student population, resulting in increased dropout rates and lowering of student performance. Lastly, all the aforementioned factors contribute to the meltdown of economic, education, and healthcare sectors of the country as well as the worsening of both physical and mental health of Filipinos.
It is therefore recommended that we register to vote for the 2022 elections to elect better leaders. It is also recommended that we continue to call out ineffective government policies. And finally, it is recommended that we hold the government accountable for the loss of lives and meltdown of the economy.
The pandemic may not die down soon but with better leaders and a better pandemic response, it just might become bearable once more.
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