This document provides an introduction to a study on the impact of distance learning on the academic performance of child laborers in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study will use a mixed methods quantitative-qualitative research design. It will examine interventions used during quarantine like online learning, TV instruction, and worksheets. The study is grounded in Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. It aims to determine how distance learning has affected the academic performance of junior high school students who are also child laborers. The results could benefit the Department of Education, schools, teachers, students, and future researchers. Key terms and the methodology are outlined.

1. IMPACT OF DISTANCE
LEARNING ON ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE OF CHILD
LABORERS' IN THE NEW
NORMAL
By: ROSE LIMA M. GUITA

2. INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
The main instrument for social change is Education and is the surest
and greatest investment which a nation can depend on for the rapid
development of its economic and human resources. Education is a long
term measure and must be pursued when the nation is in dire need of
immediate restoration of balanced economy. Philippines like other
nations of the world need people who can contribute to the
development of the nation through education. Such education should
be structured to produce knowledge and skills pursuing cultural values
and development of technologically. Thus, with the present situation
generally facing the new normal, recent early closure of the school
year last March, the enhanced community quarantine in effect, and
the still unclear future at the face of COVID-19 pandemic, the
Department of Education (DepEd) and millions of our learners are
indeed up against enormous challenges.

3.  Interventions in the different regions during the quarantine
period through the internet are world-wide basic solutions.
Platforms such as Distance learning, Online Learning, TV
Based Instruction, Blended Instruction emerged as the most
common technological interventions to be used. Also the use
of radio-based intervention are in test as another preparatory
alternative — partnerships with local radio stations hold
announcements of questions or lessons that can be replied via
phone. Moreover, door-to-door delivery of worksheets, take-
home learning activity sheets, and take-home portfolio
completions as a modular form are the following modular
learning action methods. These modalities will be used and
explored during the quarantine period and in the meantime
serve as key learning points for implementation of the bigger
education system.

4. Furthermore, the future remains unknown. By working together to support and
empower the education ecosystems in our communities, we can help establish the
structures that our students will need to receive the quality education they deserve,
and bring stability in a time of uncertainty.
Thus, for decades, child labor has been an important global issue associated with
inadequate educational opportunities, poverty and gender inequality. Not all types of
work carried out by children are considered child labor. Engagement of children or
adolescents in work with no influence on their health and schooling is usually regarded
positive. The International Labor Organization (ILO) describes child labor as ‘work that
deprives children of their childhood, potential and dignity, and that is harmful to
physical and mental development’. This definition includes types of work that are
mentally, physically, socially or morally harmful to children; or disrupts schooling most
especially during the time of new normal.

5. Hypothesis
 This study aims to determine the impact of distance learning on academic
performance of junior high school students’ child laborers in the new normal.
Statement of the Problem

6. Theoretical Framework
The present study is anchored on Maslow’s “Theory of Hierarchy of Needs.”
Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower level deficit
needs before progressing on to meet higher level growth needs. However, he
later clarified that satisfaction of a needs is not an “all-or-none” phenomenon,
admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a
need must be satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges” (1987, p. 69).

7. Conceptual Framework

8. Significance of the Study
This study is beneficial to the following:
 Department of Education
 School Administrator
 Teachers
 Students
 Future researchers

9. Definition of Terms
 Academic Performance
 Blended Learning
 Child Labor
 Distance learning
 Learning
 New normal.

10. CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

11. CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
 Research Design
This study is under Quantitative-Qualitative Research design. Qualitative research relies on
unstructured and non-numerical data. The data include field notes written by the researcher
during the course of his or her observation, interviews and questionnaires, focus groups,
participant-observation, audio or video recordings carried out by the researcher in natural
settings, documents of various kinds, and even material artifacts. The use of these data is
informed by various methodological or philosophical assumptions, as part of various methods,
such as ethnography, discourse analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and other
phenomenological methods. Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology,
anthropology, political science, psychology, social work, and educational research. According to
De Mey, L. (2013) this design is a choice of research design requires you to finalize your mind on
the purpose, philosophical basis, and types of data of your research, including your method of
collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting the data. However, Quantitative research is a
study that pertains to obtaining and analyzing data in a manner that is countable. This type of
research gives the researcher a way to come up with statistics from the collected data. (Chelaa,
Mercie,2017).

12. Locale of the Study
Respondents of the Study
Sampling Technique

13. Validity of the Test Instrument
Reliability of the Test Instrument
Data Gathering Procedure
Statistical Treatment

14. Research Instrument