DETERMINED AND RESOLUTE is Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Pogi Lazatin Jr., whose battlecry “No one is left behind when it comes to education”, is tantamount to bestowing this basic right at all costs to students who are striving in the face of difficulty. His commitment to yield quality and unhampered online learning for students in public schools is steadfast not with standing the rising threat of the coronavirus that beleaguers the city.
In fact, he expedited the distribution of 58,000 android tablets and free internet with 772 access points around the city to students enrolled in grades 4 to 12 levels and 2,997 teachers to all 40 elementary and 13 high schools in anticipation of abnormal weather conditions such as super typhoon Rolly. Lazatin figured a whopping Php 194 million to fund these 16GB/2GB RAM tablets and internet fees without being affected by the bottomless debt services of the city government loaned by previous administrations.
Lazatin, however, sought the support of internet service providers to give high-speed internet access to warrant quality interaction between educators and learners. Be that as it may, unfazed by the global pandemic, natural calamities and man-made disasters, Lazatin’s finest hours has been weathering these challenges—gracefully and undaunted— since he assumed the mayorship barely 15 months in office.
To complement Lazatin’s educational program, WHIPs (Woman in High Intelligence and Power) Mayor’s Chief Adviser and Tactician and concurrent CIAC VP-Operations IC Calaguas and Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel has donated photocopiers and bond papers to various public schools in Angeles City and Magalang from their talent fees in their private capacity as Beautederm ambassadresses.
In a related development, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has conducted online seminars or ‘webinars’ aimed at preparing teachers under the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to adapt to alternative learning systems under the ‘new normal’.
The DICT has directed its ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau (ILCDB), Cybersecurity Bureau, and Regional Offices to formulate and facilitate the conduct of webinars aimed at capacitating and upskilling the ICT competencies of basic education teachers, administrators, educators, and students in different public and private educational institutions and state universities and colleges (SUCs).
These capacity building activities will assist in the preparation for the potential use of available ICT enabled education services, such as online learning management systems, video conferencing platforms, and online educational resources, with due regard to raising awareness on safe cybersecurity and privacy practices.
This initiative is in accordance with the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) which adopted the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan of the DepEd’s specific learning delivery modalities, such as blended and online learning delivery modes, to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Secretary Gregorio B. Honasan II ICT said it has become crucial for retaining a sense of continuity for our society, especially in the education sector. DICT will help upskill the ICT capacity of our teachers in order for them to utilize the full potential of ICT in providing quality education to their students given the disruptions in holding face-to-face classes.