PASAY CITY -- Following the recognition of "Valenzuela Live" as an outstanding local governance program at this year's Galing Pook Awards, Senator Win Gatchalian reiterated the need to accelerate the adoption of technology in the delivery of education.
Valenzuela Live or the Valenzuela LIVE Online Streaming School utilizes Facebook Live to stream classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science (ValMaSci) serves as an off-site classroom, while information technology (IT) moderators and technicians provide support to teachers. The city government also distributed tablets to support learners who don't have devices to watch these videos.
To strengthen digital education in the basic education sector, Gatchalian emphasized that recovery efforts should prioritize closing the nationwide digital divide. He also pressed the need for teacher education and training to ensure readiness for online learning.
To help foster universal access to the internet, Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 2250 or the Satellite-Based Technologies for Internet Connectivity Act of 2021.
The proposed measure seeks to allow government organizations, public and non-profit private institutions, and volunteer organizations engaged in education, health, finance, agriculture, environmental management, climate change management, disaster preparedness and crisis response to own and operate satellite-based technology to aid and augment their activities.
The 2019 National ICT Household Survey reveals that 82.3% of households do not have access to the internet. A report from The Asia Foundation pointed out that 74 percent of public schools in the Philippines remain unconnected to the internet.
"Nakita natin ngayong panahon ng pandemya na ang teknolohiya ay dapat maging bahagi na ng ating sistema ng edukasyon. Kaya naman sa ating pagtaguyod sa pagbangon ng sektor ng edukasyon, ating tiyakin na bawat mag-aaral at guro ay may access na sa internet upang magamit sa kanilang pagtuturo at pag-aaral," said Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
Gatchalian also bats for learners' free access to the Department of Education's (DepEd) learning platforms. Under Senate Bill No. 2355 or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act, which Gatchalian filed to establish a national learning intervention program, Public Telecommunication Entities (PTEs) will be mandated to provide free access to all of DepEd's learning platforms, including online educational platforms, digital libraries, and other online knowledge hubs without any additional financial burden to learners, teachers, para-teachers, and volunteer tutors. (OSWG)
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