Josette Buyo, director of the Department of Science and Technology at the Science Education Institute, said there are already 132 self-learning modules developed for teaching Math for Grades 1 to 3, and self-learning modules for teaching Science for Grades 7 to 8.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 25) — With two months to go before the next academic year, the Department of Education said Thursday that it has yet to train about 60 percent of public school educators how to teach using digital tools.
Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio told a Senate hearing that DepEd is planning to conduct mass training for teachers next month. There are a total of 800,000 of educators in public schools.
“We hope to provide the training for our fellow teachers this coming July, the remaining 60 percent,” he said as Senate committees convened to tackle education policies in the new normal.
San Antonio said that aside from the training that their Information and Communications Technology Service or ICTS unit provides, some of their division and regional offices are conducting trainings of their own.
He said instructors are equipped with skills such as converting learning materials into e-books and other digital formats.
Train teachers based on distance learning needs, technology access
A lawmaker pointed out Thursday that the DepEd has been giving trainings on technology-based instruction without considering if the teachers have access to technology or issues with connectivity.
Senator Nancy Binay asked San Antonio during her interpellation if the DepEd has mapped out areas where online teaching and blended learning are doable.
San Antonio responded that “the exact map is still a work in progress.”
The education official added that DepEd is still gathering information as they proceed with the enrolment process to determine “which specific learning delivery modality would be appropriate to a specific group of learners.”
But Binay insisted that training must be based on distance learning needs of the instructors, as she noted that what the DepEd is doing now may not be a judicious use of its already ‘limited resources.’
The legislator asked, “Hindi po ba dapat ngayon pa lang mayroon na tayong ganitong mapping?”
[Translation: Shouldn’t we have this mapping as early as now?]
She added: “Why would we train our teachers for an online way of teaching our kids kung alam naman natin na mukhang mahirap ang ganoong klase ng pagtuturo?”
[Translation: Why would we train our teachers for an online way of teaching our kids if we knew this mode of instruction is possibly hard for them?]
Internet allowance
Meanwhile, Senators Pia Cayetano and Grace Poe are pushing for the provision of allowances to teachers, which they could use to obtain digital access.
DepEd Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs Tonisito Umali said that a one-time P3,500 cash allowance is being given to their teaching personnel, but Poe believes that is not enough.
DepEd reiterated that face-to-face classes will be suspended until a vaccine on coronavirus disease becomes widely available.
However, teachers could meet with their students outside schools on a regular basis to provide them guidance, especially if they have a hard time with understanding certain lessons, San Antonio noted.
DepEd earlier released the calendar for the next school year, with classes slated to begin this August 24, and expected to end in April 2021.
Two programs are ready for implementation, namely Radyo Eskwela for elementary students and Tuklas Siyensya for high school students, she said. The former can be accessed through radio, while the latter through various channels like Facebook and SEI portals, but talks are on-going for free air time.
Biyo added that lessons for Grades 9 to 10 are also ready, but digitization is scheduled for next year, due to budget restrictions.
