The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday admitted the grammatical and typographical errors in some episodes during the test broadcast of DepEd TV and assured that it will address these issues as it prepares for the school opening on August 24.
DepEd Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua said that the agency has received negative comments from concerned parents, netizens, and the public on some episodes of DepEd TV which started its test broadcast on August 11.
“Tama ang mga komento ng mamamayan na may mga mali nga sa accuracy at maging sa grammar at typography (The people's comments are correct that there are errors in accuracy and even in grammar and typography),” he explained.
The netizens used Twitter and Facebook in taking a swipe at an erroneous questionnaire for Grade 8 students which was filled with typographical and grammatical errors, an evidence of the sloppy job by the DepEd personnel in charge of these materials.
“Asahan po ninyo na patuloy ang pagsasaayos na ginagawa ng DepEd upang maging maayos at handa ang lahat para sa darating na pagbubukas ng klase, mapa-online, radyo, tv o modular man,” Pascua added. (We assure you that DepEd will fix these issues so that on the opening of classes – be it online, on TV-radio or modular – things will go on smoothly.)
Pascua explained that the test broadcast of “DepEd TV” in IBC-13 for analog and in Solar for digital are being undertaken to assess and test DepEd’s current capacity to broadcast educational episodes under the blended/distance learning approach. “First time po namin itong gagawin, kaya may mga test runs (We’re doing this for the first time that’s why there are test runs),” he said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, DepEd has delayed the school opening for three months. In the absence of in-person classes or face-to-face learning, public and private schools were instructed to use various alternative learning modalities.
In public schools, students will use modular (printed or offline digital), online and television and radio-based instruction (TV-RBI).
To cater to students who do not have access to online or those without gadgets, DepEd is using TV and radio as learning delivery modality.
From August 11-21, DepEd TV will air sample episodes for students in various grade levels.
Pascua said that the test run focuses on the technical aspect. “Mas nakatutok ito sa teknikal na aspeto ng broadcasting, mula recording, file conversion, ingestion, mapping, hanggang actual broadcasting (It focuses more on the technical aspects of broadcasting, from recording, file conversion, ingestion, mapping, to actual broadcasting),” he explained.
Pascua stressed that the test broadcast is an “opportunity” for DepEd’s Quality Assurance Teams to further look into each broadcast or episodes which are aligned with the Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs).
Other considerations include the quality and content of each episode and if these are appropriate for the audience.
These episodes, Pascua said, are also available in the online learning portal of the agency called “DepEd Commons” and urged the public to check these out for any concerns.
Starting August 24, the lessons from Kinder to Grade 12 will be available on DepEd TV, DepEd Radio, and can be downloaded in DepEd Commons.