Fate of CyberEd in the hands of ICT experts

MANILA, Philippines – The fate of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) P26.48-billion Cyber Education Project (CEP) now lies in the hands of information communication technology (ICT) experts from the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Assistant Secretary Jess Mateo said.

Mateo is executive director of DepEd’s Educational Programs Implementing Task Force, the committee overseeing the campaign to push for “cyber education” in the country.

He said Ateneo ICT experts are reviewing the CEP proposal reportedly under the order of Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, Ateneo president and chairman of the presidential task force formed by President Arroyo to look for reforms in the education sector.

“It’s more of a viability check,” Mateo said.

He said they welcomed the move of the presidential task force to have Ateneo IT experts study the proposal.

“We welcome it. We are confident that they will find the merits and benefits of making a huge investment in education to put in place ‘cyber education’ in public schools,” Mateo said.

Under the CEP, DepEd envisions to connect the whole education department bureaucracy and around 26,000 of its 43,000 public schools all over the country via satellite and use this to provide Internet connectivity and provide satellite-based broadcast TV education in schools.

The department said CEP promises to ensure that quality education in “model schools” can also be provided to far-flung schools in shortage of “master teachers.”

The CEP’s implementation was ordered suspended by the President at the height of the controversy over the US$329-million national broadband network project of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) that was awarded to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp.

The CEP proposal was linked to the NBN project because both are funded by concessional loans from the People’s Republic of China.

Former education secretary Fe Hidalgo, for her part, said she was pleased that Ateneo is reviewing the CEP proposal.

Hidalgo recently presided over a private sector preview of the DepEd’s CEP.

She said a recent review of CEP she led had found the need for “cyber education.”

“It will surely help improve the quality of education in our public schools,” Hidalgo said.

“Any technology, harnessed and done properly, will always facilitate teaching and enhance learning,” she said in an interview  at yesterday’s general meeting of the Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education of which she is a trustee.

However, she pointed out the need for  a thorough study for such a huge project as DepEd’s CEP.