Health and Safety: The “New Normal” is

not the old normal

July 8, 2020
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July 8, 2020
As many of us transition back to our workplaces during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we will
certainly experience changes in our daily work environments. The world of work should have
changed with a renewed focus on worker health and safety, in the attempt of protecting everyone
from the invisible Coronavirus hazard. As governments relax stringent measures put in place to
protect the public from COVID-19, there will be ongoing and increasing opportunities for interaction
with other workers, customers, patients and the general public; yet what is certain in that the COVID-
19 pandemic still exists around us. This means that we will have to stay on guard and continue with
our enhanced protocols and new measures designed to protect us from the virus.
The pandemic exposed some very uncomfortable truths about the inequalities that many in our
society face, especially in relation to poverty, precarious workers and the value that we put on the
care of those most vulnerable in our community, ranging from the ill and homeless, to the
underemployed, unemployed and the elderly.
Words like “pandemic, coronavirus, physical distancing, isolation, quarantine, PPE, N95, surgical
masks, herd immunity, contact tracing, sanitization” have entered our daily vocabulary and likely will
not be disappearing anytime soon.
Many of our members were deemed “essential service workers” and were exempted from the
government lockdown measures. Those in health care, long term care, emergency services,
telecom, utilities, transportation, the food industry, mining, manufacturing and others have soldiered
on through the pandemic and followed strict protective measures instituted by employers (hopefully
in consultation with their union) to protect themselves and their co-workers from the virus.
Wherever you fit in the scope of work, you are sure to have encountered changes in the workplace.
As the economy slowly gets back on the rails, there will be an increased push to open up business
and relax some of the lockdown measures. This does not mean that we should allow for the worker
protections that have been developed in the workplace to be watered down or ignored in the new
world of work that we are in.
In this light, we have developed a reminder document that the workplace is now in the “New Normal”
and should remain that way for the foreseeable future.

COVID-19 transmission
and protective measures
COVID-19 spreads primarily from person to person. Fighting this disease is our joint
responsibility.

Protect yourself and others by making these 6 simple precautions your new habits:

 Clean your hands often

 Cough or sneeze in your bent elbow - not your hands!
 Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
 Limit social gatherings and time spent in crowded places
 Avoid close contact with someone who is sick
 Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

DepEd prepares Self-Learning Modules

for education’s new normal
 YOU ARE HERE:
 PRESS RELEASES ›
 DEPED PREPARES SELF-LEARNING MODULES FOR EDUCATION’S NEW
NORMAL

July 1, 2020 — Steadfast in its preparation for School Year 2020-2021, the Department
of Education (DepEd) will provide Self-Learning Modules (SLMs) with the alternative
learning delivery modalities to be offered for various types of learners across the
Philippines.

The integration of SLMs with the alternative learning delivery modalities (modular,
television-based, radio-based instruction, blended, and online) will help DepEd ensure
that all learners have access to quality basic education for SY 2020-2021 with face-to-
face classes still prohibited due to the public health situation.

“The SLMs and the other alternative learning delivery modalities are in place to address
the needs, situations, and resources of each and every learner and will cover all the
bases in ensuring that basic education will be accessible amid the present crisis posed
by COVID-19,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said.

SLMs are delivered in printed format to schools that are located in coastal areas, far-
flung provinces, and communities without access to the internet or electricity. For
households with gadgets and devices, the Department has announced that SLMs can
also be accessed online or offline.

Secretary Briones noted that SLMs will be integrated in video lessons, most especially
for K to 3 learners who will require more auditory learning than other grade levels.
With inclusivity in mind, DepEd Region II Director Dr. Estela Carino added that learners
with special needs will have video sessions as well as assigned teachers that will be
guiding them throughout their lessons.

“The activities we placed in the SLMs will be appropriate for learners with special needs,
too. We still have to give these learners the same kind of care that we gave them while
we were doing face-to-face classes. Most of them would be using video-taped lessons
aside from the modules,” RD Carino said.

DepEd has provided a set of SLMs for each region for contextualization, which shall be
printed in July and will be prepared for distribution nationwide, including learners in
coastal and far-flung areas.

The Department also assured that the safety and health of teachers and personnel will
be its top priority as SLMs can be done at home. Teachers who would need to visit their
schools to get materials to prepare the SLMs are required to follow the existing work
arrangement and health protocols.

To further integrate the SLMs with the learning delivery modalities, DepEd is set to
finalize the learning delivery modalities which will be implemented for each region after
the consolidation of Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (LESF) from the June
enrollment.

DepEd prepares Self-Learning Modules

for education’s new normal
 YOU ARE HERE:
 PRESS RELEASES ›
 DEPED PREPARES SELF-LEARNING MODULES FOR EDUCATION’S NEW
NORMAL

July 1, 2020 — Steadfast in its preparation for School Year 2020-2021, the Department
of Education (DepEd) will provide Self-Learning Modules (SLMs) with the alternative
learning delivery modalities to be offered for various types of learners across the
Philippines.

The integration of SLMs with the alternative learning delivery modalities (modular,
television-based, radio-based instruction, blended, and online) will help DepEd ensure
that all learners have access to quality basic education for SY 2020-2021 with face-to-
face classes still prohibited due to the public health situation.
“The SLMs and the other alternative learning delivery modalities are in place to address
the needs, situations, and resources of each and every learner and will cover all the
bases in ensuring that basic education will be accessible amid the present crisis posed
by COVID-19,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said.

SLMs are delivered in printed format to schools that are located in coastal areas, far-
flung provinces, and communities without access to the internet or electricity. For
households with gadgets and devices, the Department has announced that SLMs can
also be accessed online or offline.

Secretary Briones noted that SLMs will be integrated in video lessons, most especially
for K to 3 learners who will require more auditory learning than other grade levels.

With inclusivity in mind, DepEd Region II Director Dr. Estela Carino added that learners
with special needs will have video sessions as well as assigned teachers that will be
guiding them throughout their lessons.

“The activities we placed in the SLMs will be appropriate for learners with special needs,
too. We still have to give these learners the same kind of care that we gave them while
we were doing face-to-face classes. Most of them would be using video-taped lessons
aside from the modules,” RD Carino said.

DepEd has provided a set of SLMs for each region for contextualization, which shall be
printed in July and will be prepared for distribution nationwide, including learners in
coastal and far-flung areas.

The Department also assured that the safety and health of teachers and personnel will
be its top priority as SLMs can be done at home. Teachers who would need to visit their
schools to get materials to prepare the SLMs are required to follow the existing work
arrangement and health protocols.

To further integrate the SLMs with the learning delivery modalities, DepEd is set to
finalize the learning delivery modalities which will be implemented for each region after
the consolidation of Learner Enrollment and Survey Forms (LESF) from the June
enrollment.

‘Distance Learning Modalities’

Umali explained that these will be the alternatives to face-to-face classes.

The first one are self-learning modules (SLM) that require minimum intervention from
teachers and parents. SLMs will be picked up by parents from the school or from their
local government.

The local government can also deliver the modules to the homes of students.
The second one is online based learning or internet based learning. There will be
learning packets made available online and teachers and students will participate in an
online discussion using platforms such Facebook messenger.

The third mode is learning through television or radio. Umali said lessons were
patterned as scripts and students can listen or watch their teachers.

The DepEd shifted to distance learning for the coming school year in compliance with
President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive for schools to postpone face-to-face classes until
a vaccine for COVID-19 becomes available.

There is also a lower enrollment turnout this year compared to the previous year.
DepEd said there are currently 18,532,000 public school enrollees and 964,445
enrollees in private schools.

DepEd said they already anticipated the lower turnout saying they understand that not
all parents can enroll their children given the effects of the pandemic.education