Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones has bared that like other countries, the Philippines is also looking into the possibilities of robot teachers in the country's education system.
"We are initiating a number of new projects," Briones told President Duterte during his latest public address aired Saturday, Sept. 11.
The Education secretary said that they have established the Education Futures Programme where they "try to discern what society will be, what it will need so that education can respond."
"Like for example, the possibilities now of robot teachers, which are being studied in other countries. Brain implants, machines, which are so much better than humans, and how can humans remain human in the light of all these fascinating developments," Briones said.
The DepEd chief explained that this is among the visions they have for the country's education state decades from now.
"So we are not looking at next year’s election, Mr. President, but perhaps 30 years from now, 40 years from now, what will society be like? How will we prepare our learners? How will we prepare them mentally aside from memorizing multiplication tables, Mr. President, as well as correcting their grammar? So this is one program which we are very interested in," Briones further said.
In April 2021, the Education department started setting up its Education Futures Unit (Educ Futures) to strategically evaluate and integrate trends and advancements in learning and teaching processes.
The Educ Futures unit aims to seek answers to numerous challenges facing education, and craft policies based on research, global trends, and best practices.