IT road map to turn around basic education

The Department of Education (DepEd) faces a tough challenge in implementing its Information and Communications Technology for Education (ICT4E) road map, Secretary Jesli Lapus said on Thursday.

During a roundtable with The Manila Times, Lapus described ICT as a powerful educational tool that can facilitate the transformation of basic education in the country.

But to be able to make such weapon turn education around, he said that the Education department has to find ways by which students and teachers can become at ease in the use of modern technology in education like their counterparts in other countries.

The planned ICT4E roadmap will allow stakeholders to properly integrate ICT in the delivery of learning competencies in the three core subjects—English, Mathematics and Science.

“Given the challenges we face, both geographic and financial, ICT4E is the fastest and most economical means to improve basic education in the country,” Lapus said.

He added that the current ICT integration in education remains a daunting task, citing student-computer ratios and teacher-computer ratios that need to be improved.

“The education system as a whole lacks infrastructure for connectivity and access to technologies,” Lapus said.

He added that it is vital to bring about changes in the mindset and culture among teachers, administrators, parents and students, in the way by which the curriculum was designed and delivered and in the assessment that students undergo at present.

“Through the ICT4E Strategic Plan, we will transform learners to be proficient, adaptable lifelong learners where technology plays a major role in creating a new and improved model of teaching and learning where education happens anytime, anywhere,” Lapus said.

The Education secretary added that there is a need for more teachers’ training on integrating ICT into the curriculum, saying that while most of the teacher training institutions (TEIs) have incorporated computer courses into their curriculum as a requirement for graduation, computer literacy is not a requirement for teacher certification/licensure.

“This is partly because the in-service training is generally limited to basic computer literacy. We need to further develop these teachers’ skill and help transform students to be proficient, adaptable lifelong learners,” Lapus said.

The Education department, under the leadership of Lapus, has embraced technology as a strategic tool to bridge the current information and education gap in the country.

He said that the department has increased its ICT-related efforts to sustain the initiatives that various support organizations have started for the Education department.

Earlier, Lapus instructed the Education department’s budget chief to provide additional operating funds to schools, which have lost computer connections to cover Internet subscription fees and incremental electric charges.

Also earlier, he said that the department’s five-year ICT4E program was nearing completion. But he added that more government funds are needed to be channeled into ICT for education to ensure its continuity.

While there is an increasing support from private sector and foreign donors for this agenda, Lapus said, there is a need to consolidate these efforts and help ensure that the Philippines will realize its ICT4E goals.

According to him, Education department will lead and coordinate all ICT initiatives in basic education involving all agencies and stakeholders. This ICT4E plan will provide a threshold level of hardware for schools, training for teachers and any necessary infrastructure for support.

“Schools that are more advanced in terms of ICT-readiness, teacher capability and physical conditions will be able to acquire more resources and support to progress at a faster pace,” he said.

And to assist the teachers for the proper integration of ICT into the classroom, the Education department recently entered into an agreement with software and hardware manufacturers to provide affordable laptops to public school teachers.

In line with the policy for school-based management, the plan calls for schools to devise their own ICT plans that closely align with the strategic directions laid out to best suit their individual needs, Lapus said.

He assured the construction of new computer laboratories and other facilities that will support the smooth implementation of the ICT program.

Education department records showed that there are currently 426,765 classrooms available nationwide. An additional 9,835 classrooms were constructed in 2008, and 10,533 classrooms in 2009.

“Between January and April 2009, we completed 4,644 classrooms. Some 2,300 are still being constructed and for completion this month,” Lapus said. –James Konstantin Galvez, Reporter, Manila Times