In order to realize the establishment of the Public Education Network (PEN) in the country, the Department of Education (DepEd) has partnered with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to respond to the challenges in the education landscape.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones confirmed this during the briefing of Palace Spokesman Harry Roque on Monday, April 19. With the shift into distance learning amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, underscored the “need to use technology” for learning continuity and education.

Last week, DepEd led by Briones and DICT led by Secretary Gregorio Honasan II also signed two important Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to strengthen the delivery of education through broadcast, connectivity, and digital security via the PEN program.

This initiative aims to fast-track the digital connectivity of all public schools and DepEd offices nationwide and allow learners to have wider access to DepEd TV, DepEd Commons, and other learning platforms.

DepEd and DICT have been coordinating the development of the PEN as early as April 2020.

Aside from this, the PEN will also connect DepEd Offices to governance platforms such as the DepEd Enterprise Resource Planning System (DERPS), the Learner Information System (LIS), the DepEd Mobile App, and other partner platforms.

“This partnership is designed not only to deal with COVID but really to deal, not only with the present, but also with the future. We feel braver. We feel more courageous since we are holding hands with the DICT and other institutions who could help us out. With this partnership, we offer more hope to education with the help of our partners,” Briones said.

The collaboration is aligned with the directive of President Duterte during his 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA) and direct response of DepEd and DICT to address the adverse effects and complications brought by the pandemic in basic education and also for future possible incidences of calamities, disasters, and conflict.

“When the government decided to open classes amid the public health emergency, we recognized the need for education to continue, despite the limitations imposed by the ongoing health crisis,” Honasan said. “We believe it is imperative to look beyond these immediate concerns to what may be possible for education on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

The partnership will lay down the framework of cooperation and collaboration between DepEd and DICT, including advocacy for the presence of ICT service providers in public school premises, provision of online resources, materials, and systems for educational use, and coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), among others.

DICT will also assist in augmenting the future satellite capacity of DepEd for Last Mile Schools and in providing data transport service using a fiber-optic network under the GovNet and Microwave towers.

DepEd and DICT will also work together to determine suitable real estate properties owned or under the administration of DepEd for use as sites or locations for the Shared Passive Telecommunications Tower Infrastructure (SPTTI) that will let government agencies share resources and technologies for the benefit of Filipinos.

With the building of the PEN, DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua noted that the Digital Rise program will be “strengthened and propelled forward.”

The PEN program is part of the Digital Rise Program under the Public Schools of the Future (PSOF) Framework.

It is spearheaded by the DepEd Information and Communications Technology Service-Education Technology Unit (ICTS-EdTech) headed by Director Abram Y.C. Abanil, under the Administration Strand led by Pascua and Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III.