DepEd to parents: Guide students to use the internet for learning

by Joviland Rita/LBG, GMA News, 8 Dec 2019

The Department of Education on Sunday urged parents to teach their children to use the internet as a “learning environment” and not as a distraction for their studies.

DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla made the statement in response to claims that the use of gadgets caused the Philippines’s poor ranking in reading comprehension in a global survey.

“’Yung internet mismo is a learning environment,” Sevilla said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV on Sunday.

“Ang problema siguro is kasama dapat natin ang mga bata sa bahay, ang community na nagtututo on how to properly use this learning environment,” she added.

Sevilla said that internet is also being used by educators in teaching their students, for example, having them watch an educational video on YouTube.

If internet distracts students from learning, Sevilla said, the situation should be shifted by teaching the children to use this technology to their advantage.

“Ang technology ay hindi na po yan maiiwasan. Hindi tayo paurong. Lalo pa po itong lalawak,” she said.

Based on the results of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, the Philippines ranked poorly for reading literacy, mathematics and science.

The Philippines participated in the global survey for the first time to establish its baseline in relation to global standards, and benchmark the effectiveness of the reforms in education system, DepEd said.

“Matagal na panahon na ang ginagamit natin na sukatan para malaman nating kung ang isang estudyante ay ready for any higher challenge is the local assessment…But how are we doing in terms of other countries especially ngayon the K to 12 Program is addressing the 21st century skills,” Sevilla said.

“Hindi ito labanan kung sino ang nasa top. Ang importante is may mga eksperto na nagsasabi kung nasaan tayo at yung info na yun ang gagamitin para ma-review ang mga programa na meron tayo ngayon,” she added.

According to Sevilla, they are considering different factors that contibuted to the low ranking of the Philippines, aside from the use of gadgets.

Sevilla said there are about 47,000 schools with around 27 million students across the country. There are only almost 1 million teachers.

She said that most of the congested schools are in National Capital Region (NCR), Cebu and Davao areas.

However, she noted that the congestion of schools shows no direct effect to the learning of students as these three areas with large student-to-faculty ratio actually performed well in the survey.

Poverty is also among the factors that the DepEd has been considering in the poor performance of students.

Sevilla said DepEd has been working on these issues in our basic education system. —