DepEd to install computers in all public schools

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) is hopeful that it will be able to install computers in and provide computer education for all public high schools by the end of this year.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said DepEd had allotted a huge chunk of the department’s budget for 2008 to their ICT4E, or ICT for Education project, which seeks to provide computer access to all public high school students.

Lapus said the budget for the ICT4E will go to the procurement of computers for some 600 public high schools that do not yet have computers for their students.

“We are channeling a huge chunk of our resources to ICT4E. Our students are now living in the Information Age, and knowledge – not social status or financial capacity – is the key to seizing opportunities in the 21st century,” Lapus said.

“There will be an additional 600 schools that will set up computer laboratories. By the end of 2008, all high schools will have access to computers,” Lapus said.

Among the 6,382 public high schools nationwide, 600 high schools have been recipients of the DepEd Computerization Program in 2003-2004 and 2006. The supplemental budget for school year 2006 has also benefited 355 public high schools.

As of March, the combined efforts of DepEd, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Government of Japan to procure computers for public high schools have benefited 5,269 public high schools nationwide.

DepEd started the ICT4E program when the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) encouraged a push towards total computer access for all students as a major component towards its Education for All (EFA) by 2015 goal.

In the Philippines, the push to attain the EFA goals was delineated in the Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA), a set of policy reforms aiming to significantly improve the basic education sector by 2010.

It has five critical thrusts, namely: School-based Management, Competency-based Teacher Standards, Quality Assurance and Accountability Framework, Early Childhood Education and Alternative Learning System, and Reengineering DepEd Governance.

As a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, Lapus repeatedly affirmed the pivotal role of ICT in education pursuant to international best practices.

“Computerization is not meant to take the place of reading – a habit that we continue to spur among public school children. When carefully utilized, computers can complement books, and transform the learning experience of our children,” Lapus said.