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June 30, 2021 – The Department of Education (DepEd) continued its field visits in Northern Luzon and distributed educational tools to recipient schools, learners, and personnel last June 8-12 to strengthen the implementation of blended learning in hard to reach areas.

Spearheaded by the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration (OUA), the group from the Central Office monitored and provided e-learning gadgets to select schools in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

“As I always say to the public, we need to utilize and maximize the advantage of having these kinds of technology in making our basic education more inclusive to the learners, especially those who are in Last-Mile Schools,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

“I hope that the schools will utilize these e-learning gadgets properly for the betterment of our distance learning and, of course, that these will be taken care of so that other learners and teachers will be able to use it in the next few years,” she added.

Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua, in cooperation with Google Philippines, led the delivery of the Google Chromebooks in the Schools Division of Olongapo City and Tarlac Province.

“Handog natin ang mga e-learning gadgets para sa mga learners at teachers natin under the online learning modality. Isa rin ito sa ating pamamaraan upang maisakatuparan ang pagbuo ng Public Education Network na makatutulong sa atin upang magkaroon ng makabagong edukasyon,” Usec. Pascua said.

Meanwhile, numerous Last-Mile schools in the Ilocos Region received 1,218 smartphones and 34 laptops for their learners and teachers, while Cagayan Valley Region obtained 727 smartphones and 18 laptops.

The Division Supreme Student Government and Supreme Pupil Government Presidents and teacher-advisers from Region II and CAR also accepted a total of 68 e-learning gadgets to strengthen their initiatives in helping their co-learners.

The Central Office Monitoring Team, composed of representatives from the Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS), Youth Formation Division (YFD), and Education Facilities Division (EFD), also monitored the current situation and condition of the different Gabaldon School buildings in Northern Luzon as part of the provisions of Republic Act 11194 or the Gabaldon Conservation Act.

Usec. Pascua underscored that along with the restoration of the historic architecture of the Gabaldon facilities, the program will also be vital in addressing the issues and problems related to the lack of classrooms in the country.

The visit also involved consultation meetings with field counterparts, inauguration of school buildings, and monitoring of the Basic Education – Learning Continuity Plan implementation.

These efforts are part of the Public Schools of the Future (PSOF) Framework of the Administration Strand led by Undersecretary Alain Del B. Pascua and Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III, under the leadership of Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones.

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