The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) announced on Wednesday, July 22, the launch of the Digital Teachers and Learners Project with a pilot training program in San Juan City.
Around 12,000 public school students, 500 teachers, and 13 schools in San Juan City are set to take part in the pilot training program. Aiming to educate teachers in San Juan on the alternative education project, a four-day intensive training program is scheduled to run from July 20-23, 2020.
The DICT, together with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the local government of San Juan City, with the trainers from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Cisco Net Academy, Q Software Research Corporation, Google Philippines, and Habi Education Lab, will train San Juan teachers in using education technology software and navigating the government-issued learning devices.
“To ensure the safety of educators and learners amid the pandemic, alternative delivery modes such as online learning and teaching need to be maximized. Through the partnership between DICT, DepEd, San Juan City, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) — we will see a better new normal for the Filipino children,” DICT secretary Gregorio Honasan II said in a statement.
Honasan emphasized the need to explore alternative learning methods as the pandemic continues to pose health risks to students and teachers.
During the launch of the pilot training for teachers, DICT assistant secretary for Digital Philippines Emmanuel Caintic said the Digital Teachers and Learners Project is part of the agency’s agenda to accelerate the digital transformation of governance, education, workforce, and communities across the country.
San Juan mayor Francis Zamora said: “The digitalization becomes all the more significant as we face this pandemic and as we transition to the new normal because it offers our children a safer access to education.”
Public schools across the country are expected to adapt the Digital Teachers and Learners Project learning from the experience from the pilot program in San Juan.
For more information about the Digital Teachers and Learners Project, please contact the DICT Project Management Group through pmg@dict.gov.ph.
