Group uses social media to help E. Samar schools in 'new normal'

MANILA – A volunteer organization has turned to social media to create a platform to extend help to schools in Eastern Samar province amid the shift to distance learning.

In just a week, Ugop PH raised some PHP40,000 which they used to procure a photocopier machine for their first school beneficiary which is currently struggling to produce learning modules for its students due to lack of resources.

“These are hard-to-reach communities. We want to help them produce learning materials for their students by giving them their own photocopier machines,” Shaira Joy Montes, project head of Ugop PH, said recently.

Learning modules are materials that will be used by students who cannot comply with online classes or distance learning programs due to concerns over stability of internet connection or lack of adequate devices.

Montes said some teachers of their first school beneficiary, Sabang Central Elementary School in Borongan City, Eastern Samar, use their personal printers to reproduce modules to be used in the modular form of learning due to lack of resources.

The government has prohibited the conduct of face-to-face classes for the rest of the year due to the prevailing threat of the pandemic.

However, despite providing seminars for teachers, the migration to distance learning has given birth to challenges for both teachers and learners since a stable internet connection remains a huge problem, especially in the provinces.

“In response, institutions are producing learning modules or course packs. They are faced with complex financial and material difficulties,” Montes said.

The group, composed of University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, and Polytechnic University of the Philippines alumni based in the United States and Manila, hopes to raise more funds to procure printers and school supplies for their school beneficiaries.

Here’s a link to their page for those who want to extend help: facebook.com/ugopPH (PNA)