Teachers must be armed with better skills in using gadgets and technologies in teaching, President Marcos said as he pushed for better proficiency level of Filipino learners.
Education Undersecretary Michael Poa disclosed that during a sectoral meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, Marcos' top priority in terms of improving the country's ranking in the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) is "teaching quality."
Thus, the President directed the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure that proper training is done for teachers in order to equip them with better skills in using technology in teaching.
The use of gadgets among teachers and students is also identified as among the factors that need to be looked at by the agency in improving the country's PISA ranking.
"Gusto niyang magkaroon talaga ng expertise yung ating mga teachers (He really wants teachers to have the expertise), so he emphasized on the necessity of proper training programs for our teachers, of course hand in hand with teacher welfare," Poa said in a Palace briefing after the sectoral meeting.
"Pagdating sa teachers kasi talagang para sa ating Pangulo, napakaimportante ng ating mga teachers and we agree, teaching quality will really improve. Sabi nga ng ating Pangulo he believes around 60 percent improvement kung mapabuti din nating 'yung teaching quality (When it comes to teachers, the President regards them as the most important, and we agree, teaching quality will really improve. As the President said, he believes around 60 percent improvement will be achieved if we can improve the teaching quality)," Poa added.
During the meeting, which was also attended by Vice President Sara Duterte, Marcos stressed that teachers must be updated on the new technology being used in teaching and be trained in incorporating it into their classes.
According to the DepEd, they will conduct a scoping review to determine the number of teachers who have gadgets and those who are trained on using them.
DepEd Undersecretary Gina Gonong said that training for teachers is continuously done and they are provided with modules or learning resources so that they can adapt to using technology in teaching.
She also mentioned the need for DepEd to be linked with universities through their pre-service teacher education to train teachers in using technology in teaching prior to entering the profession.
READ MORE: Marcos orders DepEd to improve PH students' low int'l assessment ranking