A Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) official-turned-congressman is pushing for the approval of a measure that would provide an initial P500-million investment by the state for the digital transformation of the country’s public school system. Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan says the measure---House Bill (HB) No.
276—will set the stage for the modernization of the country’s public schools and help both teachers and students in tapping technology as a powerful educational tool. “In the last pandemic, digital technology was used as a crisis management tool to ensure that most students were able to continue learning even when lockdowns and other health protocols were in place. But today, even without a crisis, digital technology has proven to be a must in facilitating learning inside and outside the classroom,” said Yamsuan, one of the co-authors of the proposed Institutionalization of Digital Technology in Public Education Act. Yamsuan said that unlike in private schools where students can immediately opt to shift to online classes during strong typhoons, floods and other emergencies, public school pupils are left with no option but to resort to makeup classes or use modules whenever face-to-face learning is suspended. The former DILG assistant secretary said the new guidelines issued by the Department of Education (DepEd) on class suspensions underscore the urgency of investing in digital technology in public schools. Under the DepEd’s revised guidelines on class suspensions, face-to face classes in public schools in areas under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 1 are automatically suspended only for Kindergarte