The Department of Education (DepEd) is mulling airing 130 lecture episodes on television to help students cope with the new learning system amid the COVID-19 pandemic starting on Oct. 5.
At the hearing of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture, DepEd Director Abram Abanil told senators each lecture episode will last around 20 minutes with five-minute breaks in between.
“By Oct. 5, the target is to be able to produce 130 episodes per week. These 130 episodes cover only the major subject areas under the most essential learning competencies,” said Abanil during the hearing chaired by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
According to the DepEd official, there were supposed to be 220 subject areas but the agency has no capability yet to produce such amount of episodes.
“So we are targeting only for the major subject areas this coming Oct. 5, so that’s 130 episodes per week,” he said.
DepEd partner channels in TV education include IBC-13, PTV-4, Solar TV, Planet Cable, the Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Cignal TV.
As of this month, the agency has five studios, 18 public schools for off-site shootings, 107 teacher broadcasters, and 72 production staff.
DepEd is also trying to come up with a mechanism regarding suspension of classes during a quarantine setting, DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said.
“In truth, DepEd has not yet issued any policy as of this time…for example, the delivery and pick up of learning modules can’t be done. If there are learning resources and there is no capacity for communication, then obviously the class will be suspended. Those are the considerations we will have to take,” Malaluan told senators during the hearing.
Malaluan said it may be up to the discretion of local government units (LGUs) to suspend classes just like during pre-COVID situations.