Kindergarten Implementation During Pandemic: Their Access to Quality Early Childhood Education

The long-running pandemic has affected every facet of the educational system, but early childhood education has been particularly devastated. While all level and types of education are facing serious challenges, early childhood sectors is one of the most vulnerable sectors and prone to have bigger impact. For almost two (2) school years kindergarten learners have experienced learning setbacks and limited social experiences which are necessary for the growth and development. This health crisis doesn’t just affected learners but also it affected teachers who endured degraded working conditions, stress for job uncertainty and including mental health issues, it also brought effects to parents or families of the leaners. This study sought answers to the following questions: What are the kindergarten implementation during pandemic?; What are the pandemic’s impact to the access of kindergarten pupils to quality early childhood education?; and How do kindergarten pupils cope to have access to quality early childhood education?. This study is a qualitative approach and the data were gathered by conducting personal interviews in a purposive random sampling with 25 kindergarten teachers, pupils, and parents in Milagros East District and interpreted through deductive thematic analysis. The findings revealed that kindergarten pupils were not able to master the most essential learning competencies that are expected of them because of lack of parental support and guidance, dealing with unfavorable learning environment, and lack of motivation. In spite of having limited resources and numerous workload, they are used to crafting various learning opportunities for kindergarten like establishing routines and home visitation to primarily address their learning needs. It is a must for the educational authorities to look into the welfare of both the kindergarten pupils, teachers, and parents to ensure that they have access to quality early childhood education so as to prepare them for the next academic step.