Senator Sonny Angara (Senate PRIB)

Senator Juan Edgardo ‘’Sonny’’ Angara, one of the commissioners of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), is pushing for the use of technology in solving the country’s education problems.

During the alignment meeting between EDCOM 2 commissioners and the Department of Education (DepEd) at the Senate building Thursday, April 13, Angara reiterated the importance of using cutting-edge technologies in enhancing the learning experience of Filipino students.

“I hope we can leverage the use of technology in addressing the education gaps in the country. There are a lot of resources online which are free… Khan Academy, Coursera. We have technologies like ChatGPT which will help our teachers,’’ he said.

‘’I just see technology as a way of leapfrogging a lot of problems,” Angara said in mixed Filipino and English.

Angara, likewise, pushed for a review of the K to 12 program where there government promises given to K to 123 students and parents were not delivered.

These include a three-year college education and a promise of landing a job immediately after finishing K to 12, he said.

Also promised were a high level of technical and vocational skills, education on sports and the arts.

Because of these. Angara pointed out, there is a need to strengthen and improve the K to 12 program so that young Filipinos would not be left far behind in analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other courses that are deemed 21st century skills.

These would be the focus of EDCOM 2 in coordination with DepEd, Commission on Higher Education (CHed), Technical  Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and stakeholders in the private sector, he said.

There are calls for a review of the K to 12 program following a report of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that K to 12 graduates had experienced difficulties in finding jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic and that soft skills such as communications, teamwork and critical thinking in on-line classes were not developed.