The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday received Php 120 million worth of online modules and physical educational and nutrition kits for this school year.
This after DepEd and Nestlé Philippines formalized an agreement that will reinforce the implementation of the government’s Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) nationwide.
Education Secretary Leonor Briones and Nestlé Philippines Chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki led the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) virtual signing ceremony. The agreement further strengthens the company’s support for the DepEd through the provision of online modules and educational kits that will aid in the country’s shift to distance/blended learning.
“This MOA reflects how Nestlé Philippines has intensified its partnership with the DepEd by sponsoring over Php 120 million worth of online modules and physical educational and nutrition kits for this school year,” Marzouki said. “We hope to be able to support the teachers, students and parents as they too, level up to adopt a new way of learning,” he added.
Briones, on the other hand, thanked Nestlé Philippines in supporting DepEd’s mission of delivering quality education amidst the pandemic. She noted that DepEd is in full pursuit of efforts to ensure that students across the Philippines have access to quality education despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic.
DepEd, Briones explained, remains “committed to helping our learners to achieve their dreams” and this initiative to develop health and wellness within the Filipino family was “good support for our learners, parents, and to our teachers.”
Briones said that the DepEd always welcomes assistance from its partners, especially those that “give importance to the health of our stakeholders and their well- being, and we look forward to more engagements like this as we believe that it will take a nation to educate a child.”
Marzouki noted that Nestlé Philippines has been a longstanding partner of the DepEd. “We are fully committed to support the BE-LCP, which lays the foundation and direction for the country’s education system at this critical time,” he said. “Our partnership with the DepEd provides us the opportunity to stay true to our focus of helping raise and educate healthy and well-rounded Filipino children,” he added.
Under this MOA, Nestlé Philippines brings together experts to collaborate under the Nestlé Wellness Campus with MILO and Bear Brand Fortified and co-create modules based on the DepEd’s Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCs).
These modules will be uploaded on DepEd Commons, the online platform of DepEd, to ensure that they are accessible to all public schools and teachers in the country.
DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio said that these modules will supplement the materials from DepEd. “We will highly encourage the use of modules so learning will be deepened in areas relative to the concepts mentioned,” he added.
Aside from the modules on healthy habits for children including Solid Waste Management, Nestlé Wellness Campus also produced a Dancercise video.
Sports instructional videos were also created in collaboration with MILO and their established sports partners to encourage students to stay active. A Nestlé Wellness Campus Facebook Group for public school teachers will also be launched.
Marzouki noted that these initiatives further signify Nestlé Philippines’ “unwavering commitment to encourage Filipinos, especially young children, to develop health and wellness practices together with their families at home.”
Aside from Briones and Marzouki, the virtual MOA signing was witnessed by San Antonio, DepEd Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, External Partnerships and Project Management Service Tonisito Umali, and Nestlé Philippines Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications Arlene Tan-Bantoto.