Internet and Education

My teammates and I in OLA went to the Sandiganbayan Second Division last Wednesday, December 9, to observe the court proceedings. One of the cases heard was about a the President of a public school in Batangas who was charged under RA 3019 for allegedly collecting Internet fees, where there was allegedly no Internet use or connection in the said school.

If not for this experience, I did not know that the Department of Education has actually taken initiatives of integrating the Internet to education, especially to public schools in the provinces. In my research through the net, I found out that DepEd has provided use of Internet services in administrative offices and schools in the country. To what extent it has covered, I am not sure. Also, DepEd has tied up with Intel in launching Skoool.ph which provides learners and teachers with all they need to support their understanding of Science and Maths. Actually now, “DepEd, in partnership with the private sector, is targeting to provide Internet connectivity to all public secondary schools nationwide by the end of the current school year, 2009-2010. Aside from the students and teachers, the schools can also use the Internet for research, study, communication and administrative services.”

Except for the case of the School President above – which I hope is merely an isolated case – and despite budget constraints, this is good news. DepEd is moving in the right direction. Political aspirants in the incoming elections, national or local, should devote part of their resources and energies for this project.

References:
http://www.deped.gov.ph
http://skoool.ph/
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ipEWoL2QNucJ:www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuanceImg/nov4-internet.pdf+department+of+education+and+Internet&hl=en&gl=ph&sig=AHIEtbQURwY1ZLRxx7Ehw4w6i6joa8WPGw

Rean Balisi
Fourth Entry