In Middle East, Philippine schools are struggling to keep kids learning

It was a typical Saturday morning for Johnny Nastor, a 49-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW), and his family in Bahrain. He was washing his car to prepare for the incoming workweek.

But as the day went by on February 28, Nastor saw smoke billowing in a district some 10 kilometers away from their home. Later came jarring sounds of explosions, messages from friends and his workplace, and then news that the United States and Israel were waging war on Iran, and that Iran was launching retaliatory attacks in the Middle East.

After seven years in Bahrain, it was their family’s first time to experience the danger of geopolitical tensions. Nastor, his wife Rhoda Lyn, and their younger daughter complied with authorities’ instructions to stay indoors. 

“Siyempre nagkaroon kami ng takot na, ‘Hala, katapusan na ba namin ‘to?’ Siyempre, iniisip din namin una ‘yung anak namin sa Pinas na isa, tapos ‘yung family namin. Ano na mangyayari kung gagrabe pa ang sitwasyon?” Rhoda Lyn told Rappler. 

(We were scared, and thought, “Is this the end of us?” We also thought of our older daughter in the Philippines, then our family as a whole. “What will happen if the situation worsens?”)

There are around 2.4 million Filipinos in the Middle East, according to Department of Foreign Affairs data. Since the Middle East crisis began, thousands of OFWs have been forced to return to the Philippines.

Disruptions have hit operations of airports, businesses, as well as schools in the Gulf and beyond. Philippine Schools Overseas (PSOs), which are private education institutions operating abroad that are implementing the curriculum set by the Department of Education (DepEd), have not been spared.

PSOs are concentrated in the Middle East, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are the top destinations of OFWs. 

At least 26,000 students, from kindergarten to high school, enrolled in PSOs in the Middle East for school year 2025-2026, according to available estimates from the Association of Philippine Schools Overseas (APSO). 

Classes shift online, but still disrupted

Nastor’s younger daughter, 13-year-old Juliane, is an incoming Grade 8 student at the Philippine School Bahrain. After Iranian missile strikes also targeted Bahrain, Juliane’s school announced a shift to online classes, following the host country’s directive.

For her parents, safety was the priority — Juliane would not go back on-site until the war raged on. Her school implemented online learning throughout the last quarter until all exams were completed in April.

Distance learning is not new because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The difference, however, lies in the circumstances now.

“It’s not her studies that we’re worried about. We’re worried about the possible trauma, the effects of hearing the explosions and the passage of drones, on her mental health,” Nastor said.

Similar fears are felt across the Middle East. In Qatar, PSO teachers had to pause their online classes as students rushed to basements for safety during missile interceptions, or had to calm themselves amid national emergency alerts blaring from their phones.

The longer the alerts went off, the scarier it was for both students and teachers, said Noemi Formaran, a vice principal at the Philippine School Doha in Qatar and the president of APSO. Formaran is an OFW based in Qatar for two decades now.

“Even if we have online classes, we need to admit that there’s really a disruption,” Formaran said. “You can’t continue to teach if there are sounds of attacks in the background.”

Strengthening counseling services

The Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US base in the Middle East, is located southwest of Doha. It was among the facilities targeted by Iran’s retaliatory attacks.

“We were not used to that…. That’s why whenever there’s an alert, or a missile or drone attack, we get startled,” said Formaran.

Several PSOs in the Middle East, according to Formaran, have reported there were students who became more anxious and stressed, with parents calling teachers and staff to seek help for their children. Others could not attend online classes due to lack of sleep.  

She could not yet provide data on how many students have sought mental health services across PSOs, so far. But she said that her school set up a hotline for their guidance counseling program, where students can talk with counselors through teleconference meetings. APSO also mobilized its counseling group partners to provide schools with materials and online training on handling mental health issues.

Services have been provided to school employees as well. Even online, there have been frequent check-ins or kumustahan for the well-being of teaching and non-teaching staff.

While saddened, they have accepted that their annual break was also affected by the war, with the flights of some of Formaran’s fellow teachers getting canceled.

“Kami, OFW, we are always looking forward to the annual break, kasi ‘yun lang ‘yung makakasama mo ang pamilya mo. ‘Yung iba, sinasabi na lang na kung hindi ka makakauwi, then enjoy na lang Qatar,” Formaran said.

(As OFWs, we’re always looking forward to the annual break because that’s the only time we can be with our families. Some of us just say that if you can’t go home, then at least enjoy Qatar.)

Recovering learning losses

The period of implementing online learning in schools and returning to face-to-face instruction has varied across countries affected by the war.

Hard-hit by Iranian attacks, the UAE directed schools to immediately implement online learning. On-site classes resumed by April 20 — nearly two weeks after the US and Iran struck a fragile ceasefire.

Learning losses are inevitable. Rommel Pelayo, principal of the Philippine School Dubai, said some lessons that can usually be covered in one week of instruction had to be extended to two weeks. They also had to include at least an hour of safety lessons daily to let children be acquainted with the alerts.

Emergency drills continued when they returned to classrooms. At the same time, the Philippine School Dubai is tracking what still needs to be covered in the remaining weeks before its academic year ends in June.

Pelayo said there were ongoing discussions with teachers on what lessons would be retained in the following weeks, and what would be moved to the next school year instead. At the time of the interview, it had already been a week since they resumed face-to-face classes.

“What happened because of the war is not the children’s fault. And if we rush the lessons, children will not absorb the right learning competencies. So, we’re having this borderless type of curriculum,” he said.

Pelayo noted that a number of students continue to attend classes online, as their parents are prioritizing safety and some have already been repatriated to the Philippines. The continued tensions in the region also recently prompted the UAE’s education ministry to order remote learning again from May 5 to 8.

War affects shipping of textbooks

For some residents in Jeddah, the city may be considered among the safer areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is nearly 1,000 kilometers away from the capital, Riyadh, where aerial attacks are more intense. 

The community of the International Philippine School in Jeddah, one of the PSOs there, continued their usual daily activities, said principal Miracle Tapado. There was no announcement from Jeddah authorities to transition to full distance learning.

Still, they were not completely spared from the effects of the conflict, seeing higher costs of textbook deliveries. The conflict disrupted global shipping after Iran closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.

“Our books are coming from the Philippines, and because of war surcharge, the cost of delivery of books, shipment of books, is higher, and because of that, we also increased the cost of books that we are selling this coming new school year,” Tapado told Rappler.

She said the war surcharge is around 5% to 7%. For next school year, their school will provide e-textbooks instead for Grades 4 to 12, as parents prefer cheaper options. Physical textbooks will be retained, however, for kindergarten to Grade 3.

“During pandemic time, the whole world was forced to shift classes online and to use digital learning and teaching materials. Even after [the] pandemic, the training of the teachers is continuous,” Tapado said. 

Hoping for peace

Back in Bahrain, OFW Nastor hopes that the war will end soon, or at least the ceasefire will hold, so that life will return to normal for his daughter, Juliane. He believes students cannot absorb lessons fully when classes are online.

During the interview with Rappler, Juliane was beside her parents. Asked if she wanted to have online classes when she enters Grade 8, she shook her head and said she prefers to be on-site. “I don’t get distracted,” added Juliane. 

For Nastor, even just a solid ceasefire may secure his work as a research and development scientist for a manufacturing company in Bahrain.

“We may continue to provide for our family and pay for the education of Juliane and our eldest daughter,” Nastor said.

PSO heads who spoke with Rappler said they will strive to keep their operations resilient despite the Middle East conflict. They also said the DepEd promised PSOs assistance following their two virtual meetings with the agency last April.

But with the war comes inflation, too. Tapado admitted that their school in Jeddah is preparing for the impact of rising prices of goods on the capacity of parents to pay school fees on time.

“It is best if the war would end and if [life would] go back to normal…. We pray that the war [will] soon come to an end,” she said. – Rappler.com

*Some quotes in Filipino were translated to English for brevity.