Poor(er) internet connection is coming—but some schools are preparing for it

If remote learning isn’t already difficult enough, it might get even tougher (for the next few days at least). PLDT announced that they would be conducting emergency maintenance activities on one of their international cable systems from Sept. 25 to 30. For the next five days, PLDT and Smart users can experience “degraded internet connection during peak hours.”

As of the moment, our country’s average internet speed ranges from 3 to 7 Mbps, which is hardly enough to load a 30-second Instagram video, let alone a three hour long lecture. 

Students and educators alike are suffering from the sudden shift to online learning, and the added toll of an unreliable internet connection is something that has posed a challenge to most academic institutions. 

[READ: How is PH’s 3-7 Mbps internet speed ‘not too bad,’ DICT Sec. Honasan? We can’t hear you. You’re breaking up]

In response to PLDT’s maintenance news, schools around the country have proactively applied measures to make sure that those who suffer from poor connectivity issues during the planned maintenance period don’t get left behind. 

After the College of Saint Benilde’s Central Student Council drafted a letter asking to suspend synchronous online learning and move deadlines in order to accommodate students with slow connectivity, their vice chancellor announced measures to address their concerns.

Silliman University also announced similar measures in order to mitigate the internet connectivity issue, like pausing synchronous activities, no real-time checking of attendance, extensions on deadlines for asynchronous learning and providing learning materials that don’t depend on (usually spotty) internet connections. 

Although Arellano University’s School of Law cannot suspend classes, they’ve also made a way to help students during the maintenance period. Recording lectures and excusing absences brought about by internet woes are their response to the situation. 

Things are frustrating (to say the least right now), so hopefully other schools follow suit for the sake of their students and teachers. 

Header image courtesy of Richard A. Reyes Inquirer.net

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