HARNESSING technology and perfecting distance learning will be part of the strategies to be employed by the Department of Education for uninterrupted learning under the ‘new normal’, Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua said.

Pascua underscored the government’s initiatives to ensure learning continuity amid the pandemic, including DepEd TV, DepEd Commons, and DepEd Radio.

“If there are no face-to-face classes, then we have to devise all means to reach out to our learners and to bring basic education to them. We have to educate, by all means, we have to teach by all means, and our learners have to learn by all means,” he said in the first Asia Pacific Public Sector Digital Summit.

“We need to master distance learning now, making all the necessary improvements and perfecting our processes for the DepEd Commons, DepEd TV, DepEd Radio, the DepEd Learning Management System, the DepEd Mobile App, and others,” Pascua added.

He stressed the importance of the Public Education Network which will fast-track the digital connectivity of all public schools and DepEd offices nationwide.

“With this network, schools will become connectivity hubs for all the households around it so that contents are made available to every learner in the community even without internet bandwidth. If this connectivity is reinforced by internet bandwith availability, then it is a big leap forward,” he said.

Pascua also hinted at a future project which aims to update and pattern DepEd TV after streaming services to allow learners to study their learning materials at their own pace.

“Those who need more time and repetition can easily review and go back to all the lessons, while those who learn in a faster pace can access new lessons and other lessons outside of their grade levels,” the DepEd official pointed out.

Post-pandemic, Pascua cited the need to  continue online and broadcast learning platforms because of classroom shortage.

“With that kind of interface, our education curriculum can adapt to the needs of the entire nation and even the world. Then, our basic education becomes relevant and liberating for it serves what our nation needs and what our world needs,” he explained.

These plans are part of the Public Schools of the Future Framework of the Administration Strand led by Undersecretary Pascua and Assistant Secretary Salvador Malana III, under the leadership of Education Secretary Leonor Briones.