THE Davao City Council passed a resolution asking the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and all existing telecommunication companies to enhance, upgrade, and improve their internet services in preparation for the online learning education in the city amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Councilor Pilar Braga, committee chairperson on education, science and technology, arts and culture, filed the resolution on Wednesday, May 13, during the regular session of the 19th City Council.
Braga, in her speech, said there is a need to ensure "a more reliable, stable, upgraded, and high speed internet provider" while schools are currently resulting in an online learning education system following the closure of some schools for physical classroom teaching due to the ongoing threat of Covid-19.
"There is a global effort to utilize educational technology of all sorts to provide remote learning opportunities for students since schools are closed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic," the councilor said.
She said there is a need to ensure the continuity of education through online or digital learning to keep students on track academically.
"In line with this new trend or alternative to education, we ask the NTC and telecommunication companies, and internet service provider to embrace the new role as the essential bridge connecting students, teachers and to one another, to ensure a more meaningful and effective learning system to facilitate education communication and essential interaction during Covid-19 pandemic," Braga said.
Meanwhile, the councilor bared a software company will donate special education software for online learning education in all city public schools from kindergarten to Grade 6 levels.
Braga said the software would be available to students and schools with computers to access online learning.
The Department of Education (DepEd), on May 5, announced that the school year 2020 to 2021 will open on August 24 -- physically or virtually depending on the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic by then.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, in a previous radio interview, encouraged schools to push through with the opening of classes this year through home school and distant learning.
Duterte-Carpio, however, said the opening of classes will not be in a physical setting.
The City Government on Thursday morning, May 14, issued the draft of the executive order (EO) on the specific guidelines if the city will officially shift to general community quarantine (GCQ) on May 16.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has decided and approved on Wednesday, May 13, to place the city under GCQ.
However, the city has still to formalize the EO following the recent IATF order.
Under the draft EO, physical school set-up is still not allowed. All private and public educational institutions can implement a skeletal workforce to prepare for online enrollment procedures or any other system that will not create mass gathering and violate physical distancing rules. Institutions are mandated to settle through online classes, distance learning, take home modules, home school program and other programs which do not require students to come to class until face to face classroom instruction may be allowed.
DepEd-Davao spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said a home-based learning system is currently being crafted and finalized.
He also said they are also considering in their plan, those from far-flung areas with only limited online resources, through a modular scheme, an alternative delivery mode to cater students and teachers with no access to the internet.
For teachers who do not have resources such as Wi-Fi, laptops, and other gadgets, Atillo said the Education Secretary already ordered all public schools to make available all gadgets and other resources of the school to teachers.
"We allowed all teachers to get access to the laptops and PCs which they could bring home for them to use in delivering online lessons," he said.
