Yamsuan

Yamsuan urges passage of bill on digitalization of public school system

January 3, 2025 Ryan Ponce Pacpaco 188 views

REPRESENTATIVE Brian Raymund Yamsuan has called for the swift approval of a measure that aims to provide an initial P500 million investment by the government for the digital transformation of the country’s public school system.

Yamsuan said the measure—House Bill (HB) 276—will set the stage for the modernization of the country’s public schools and help both teachers and students use technology as a powerful educational tool.

“In the last pandemic, digital technology was used as a crisis management tool to ensure that most students were able to continue learning even when lockdowns and other health protocols were in place. But today, even without a crisis, digital technology has proven to be a must in facilitating learning inside and outside the classroom,” said Yamsuan, one of the co-authors of HB 276 or the proposed Institutionalization of Digital Technology in Public Education Act.

Yamsuan said that unlike in private schools where students can immediately opt to shift to online classes during strong typhoons, floods and other emergencies, public school pupils are left with no option but to resort to makeup classes or use modules whenever face-to-face learning is suspended.

He said the new guidelines issued by the Department of Education (DepEd) on class suspensions underscore the urgency of investing in digital technology in public schools.

Under the DepEd’s revised guidelines on class suspensions, face-to face classes in public schools in areas under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 are automatically suspended only for Kindergarten. Face-to-face classes from Kindergarten to Grade 10 will only be automatically suspended during TCWS Signal No. 2, provided that students shift to online or modular distance learning, performance tasks, projects or makeup classes to ensure learning continuity. Classes and work in all levels under TCWS No. 3 and above are automatically suspended. The same distance learning modalities were also issued in areas under heavy rainfall and other emergencies.

In the previous DepEd order, a declaration of TCWS No. 1 means the automatic suspension of in-person classes from preschool to Grade 12.

“These options should have covered the use of digital technology for all public schools to provide students with better learning outcomes. But unfortunately, not all our public schools have the necessary tools to shift to online learning. The government needs to invest now in institutionalizing the digitalization of our public schools so that we can be prepared for whatever challenges our education system may face now and in the future,” Yamsuan said.

“Institutionalizing the use of digital technology in our public school system will help promote inclusive learning as this will increase the access of marginalized communities to quality education via the Internet. Digitalization will also ensure that our students are future-ready and globally competitive,” he added.

Yamsuan also cited a recent statement by the private think tank Stratbase Institute, which said that “the digital transformation of our public schools is no longer an option but an urgent necessity” to “elevate our students’ learning competencies.”

Under HB 276, the DepEd is mandated to formulate a Digital Technology Road Map for Public Schools in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

“The amount of Five Hundred Million Pesos (Ph500,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated as the initial operating fund” to implement the provisions of the measure, the bill states.

Thereafter, such amount necessary to effectively carry out the measure’s provisions shall be included in the General Appropriations Act.

Stratbase Institute’s proposal for the government and the private sector to collaborate in implementing the digital transformation of the public school system complements the objectives of HB 276, Yamsuan said.

Yamsuan said the proposed Road Map aims to broaden and maximize the use of digital technology to aid learning in a rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment, as well as establish a system of constantly upgrading outdated technology in public schools.

The bill also provides for the training of teachers and students in public schools to enable them to hone their digital skills.

Yamsuan said the bill provides for a review of the Road Map every five years or as may be deemed necessary.

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