Senator Sherwin Gatchalian is now pushing for the passage of the bill that seeks to accelerate the digital transformation of the country’s basic education sector.

In filing Senate Bill No. 282, one of his 20 priority measures for the 19th Congress, Gatchalian wants the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to accelerate the installation, deployment and activation of free public Wi-Fi in all public basic education institutions.

This is in compliance with the mandate of Republic Act No. 10929 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act which seeks to strengthen teaching and learning even in remote areas through the creation of a free public internet access program.

Gatchalian said he believes education in the new normal should utilize a mix of face-to-face classes, online learning, and other modalities as this is crucial to ensure learning continuity even amidst disasters and other calamities.

“Isusulong natin ang digital transformation ng sektor ng edukasyon upang matiyak na ang bawat paaralan sa bansa ay konektado sa internet (We will pursue the digital transformation of the education sector to make sure each school in the country are connected to the internet),” Gatchalian said.

“Naniniwala akong kahit matapos na ang pandemya, magiging bahagi na ng new normal ang blended learning, kaya naman dapat palawigin natin ang paggamit ng teknolohiya upang makapaghatid ng dekalidad na edukasyon (I believe that even after the Covid-19 pandemic is over, blended learning will be part of the new normal. That’s why we need to expand the use of technology so we can provide quality education),” he further said.

The chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture also pointed out that the pandemic highlighted the nationwide digital divide and the need for innovative teaching methods for learning continuity.

For School Year 2020-2021 alone, the first year of distance learning, up to 87 percent of public school learners relied on self-learning modules.

The bill, he said, will also help expedite the building of the national infrastructure for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by mandating the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to identify locations for the construction of telecommunications tower sites.

According to Gatchalian, prriority would be given to missionary areas which remain unconnected, unserved, or underserved.

Also under the bill, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall mandate all schools to enhance and strengthen their ICT capacity to implement distance learning.

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will assist both the DepEd and the DICT on the use of science, technology, and innovation to improve traditional teaching and learning processes and boost the basic education sector towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.