DepEd: More public schools given access to Knowledge Channel programs

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) has expanded the number of public schools with access to educational programs of the Knowledge Channel.

DepEd and the Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc., signed a memorandum of agreement that will allow public schools to have access to Knowledge Channel’s educational shows through cable, satellite and the Internet.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the continued subscription of Knowledge Channel comes after the notable improvement in the performance among students of schools exposed to the channel’s educational shows.

“Continuing this partnership with Knowledge Channel will allow more public schools to experience non-traditional yet effective mode of instruction,” Lapus said.

Since 1999, the Knowledge Channel has provided and installed satellite infrastructure and cable TV facilities to 2,000 public high schools nationwide to deliver educational TV materials and help improve the academic performance of public school students in English, Math and Science.

The new partnership, led by the Adopt-A-School Program, DepEd’s link to the private sector, is expected to benefit another 4,000 public high schools.

Both public elementary and secondary schools will be provided with curriculum-based video programs on Science, Mathematics, English, and web-based learning materials that support the department’s thrust to enrich teaching and learning processes using Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Aside from interactive lesson plans, online games and quizzes will also be developed under this initiative to help perk up learning. 

“We thank the Knowledge Channel for making classroom instruction fun through its interactive materials and we are also grateful to them for investing in capability-building educational programs that are relevant to our times,” Lapus said.

More than 400 individuals and establishments from the private sector have helped the department in the delivery of quality educational servicesto public schoolchildren since the   Adopt-a-School program was relaunched by Lapus in 2006.

The massive support from the private sector has made Adopt-a-School the department’s second biggest resource-generating mechanism next to the annual DepEd budget.

“I continue to call on other community stakeholders to follow suit and invest in education,” said Lapus. - Rainier Allan Ronda