Knowing How It Works: Voices of Secondary School Heads on Local Government Special Education Fund for Technological Support in the New Normal

Structured with qualitative-transcendental phenomenology, the study aimed at understanding the lived experiences of secondary school heads on the local government Special Education Fund for technological support in the new normal in the Division of Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines. The researcher utilized the framework of Moustakas (1994), which involved bracketing, horizonalization, theme clustering, textural description, structural description, and essence. From the verbatim transcriptions, 14 themes surfaced, which were intensively analyzed. The participants' lived experiences of receiving local government fund-derived technological support to match the demands of distance learning and implementation of basic education learning continuity were relative to intricate experiences, retorts on transitional education, knowledge of local government fund, perceived support and downsides, realization of fund accessibility and decision-making, meeting the demands of distance learning, and usefulness and impacts on school outcomes. Consequently, the participants' coping mechanisms in facing challenges and issues are manifested through prioritizing health and security, provision of sufficient and equitable technological support, congruency of actual needs, operative management schemes, strategic fund allocation, dynamism in training, workshops, and technical assistance, and collaboration towards positive support. The findings imply that in the new normal, the provision of local government for technological support in schools aided the successful implementation of distance learning via the virtual learning modality. The technological devices, such as laptops for teachers and tablets for students, helped a lot in complying with the required tasks while ensuring health and safety precautions.