Batanes schools given access to educational TV materials

BASCO, Batanes, Philippines – Twenty schools across the three main islands of this northernmost province are the latest beneficiaries of one of the country’s “donee institutions” in the Department of Education’s “Adopt-A-School” program.

“80 Schools in 80 Years”, a brainchild of philanthropist Oscar Lopez, chairman of Knowledge Channel (KCh) and the Lopez Group Foundation Inc., reconnects 80 schools to Knowledge Channel – the country’s only education television channel.

The 80 selected schools from the poor provinces of the country represent the age of the still very active Oscar Lopez.

“We hope to fill the resource gap in the 20 public schools here and provide the minimum learning competency requirements needed by students by providing them access to curriculum-based TV programs through KCh,” Rina Lopez-Bautista, KCh president said.

KCh airs over 3,000 titles of curriculum-based educational materials at least 18 hours everyday. The titles are designed to enhance and deepen comprehension and retention.

“These educational television materials are sourced internationally and locally and are matched with existing DepEd curriculum,” Bautista added.

KCh is available to 2,098 schools, reaching three million students in both elementary and secondary levels in 57 provinces nationwide.

At least P3.5 million worth of television equipment were turned over by the Lopez Foundation to the 20 schools, 11 of them connected to KCh using mesh-type satellite dishes, while the other nine are using cable television connections. The program will benefit at least 3,500 Ivatan students to learn better and 300 teachers to teach more effectively.

“We are honored to make this contribution, and perhaps together, we can show other provinces how they could improve their own educational efforts,” Lopez told his listeners, which included among others Rep. Henedina Abad, Vice Gov. Ferdinand Elica, Basco Mayor Demetrius Paul Narag and Dr. Fe Hidalgo, KCh educational consultant and former DepEd OIC, secretary.