To further support learning, AdDU provided their students and teachers with PLDT Home Prepaid Wi-Fi units, which could help them connect online and ensure uninterrupted learning. Ateneo also distributed 155 tablets and digital pencils to its scholars and financially challenged students.
With classes being accessed at home, studying has become easier for their children, according to Dr. Francis Ho and Phany Castillo-Ho. Their brood of three is all enrolled at DCHS.
Despite the lockdown, the couple remain busy at work, with Dr. Ho specializing in internal medicine and endocrinology and his wife running a hospice, palliative care and nursing home, and a small hotel. The hotel is being rented by a private firm as housing for its employees during the ECQ.
While the couple oversee the homeschooling of their children, they appreciate online learning. “Becoming our kids’ teachers and making sure they accomplish schoolwork on time and correctly can be quite a challenge. We have to relearn lessons we took more than 30 years ago. But it’s an opportunity to be more involved in their daily lives,” said Dr. Ho.
“The children are frustrated that they’re not allowed to leave the house and don’t have regular interactions with their classmates and teachers, but being able to spend more time together as a family helps,” added Ms Ho.
In a statement, AdDU president Fr. Joel E. Tabora SJ said staying at home was an opportunity for genuine academic growth. “In a dialogue with our students, in collaboration with the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education, we firmly believe that if we must stay at home to help preserve life, we must use the time at home productively,” Tabora said.
