Excessive phone use has already impacted academic achievement and perceived sociability of students, but the intensity of screen time has worsened with the transition to online learning. Consequently, students tend to delay their tasks as they are easily distracted. This research examines the influence of gadget dependency on the academic procrastination levels of students. It employs a descriptive correlational research design and gathered data from Grade 12 STEM students. Overall, the degree of gadget dependency among students is high, whereas academic procrastination level is moderate, and these two measures have a significant relationship. Analysis shows that students from ROC are significantly higher in both areas. However, sex and screen time do not impact the extent of gadget dependency and academic procrastination. Saliently, learning modality induces gadget dependency and academic procrastination levels. In conclusion, gadget dependency directly affects academic procrastination levels. Findings also suggest further research on other related effects of online and distance learning.

In post-pandemic, schools are re-opening their doors to in-person classes to cater to students who were to distance learning modality for two years. To determine the learners’ proficiency level in Biology, it is imperative to assess the most essential learning competencies (MELCs) to ascertain what competencies were missed so that teachers can come up with appropriate interventions. A descriptive-comparative research design was used to assess the proficiency level in MELCs in Biology of Grade 9 Entrants at a large rural secondary school in Central Negros Occidental, Philippines, during the S.Y. 2022-2023 when they were taken as a whole and grouped according to sex and family monthly income. Using a researcher-made Biology Proficiency Questionnaire based on MELCs, the study was conducted to 137 respondents who were identified through stratified random sampling. In data analyses, Mean, Standard Deviation, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and Mann-Whitney U Test were employed. The overall result of the proficiency level in MELCs in Biology was low, and when grouped according to sex and family monthly income, the result was also low. Correspondingly, there was no significant difference in Biology proficiency level when grouped according to sex and family monthly income. With this, Strategic Intervention Materials (SIMs) were deemed relevant and timely to aid students in understanding the least learned MELCs.