ILOCOS Norte 2nd District Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba filed a measure mandating all government-owned broadcasting stations to deliver broadcast-based learning for primary and secondary education learners.

In pushing for House Bill 7306 or the proposed Broadcast-based Learning Act, Barba said distance learning, also known as correspondence learning, is not something new in the Philippines or the world.

“Distance learning refers to a learning delivery modality where learning takes place between the teacher and the learners who are geographically remote from each other during instruction,” Barba said in his explanatory note.

He said that this method of learning is for the non-traditional learners such as working students or those who could not physically attend classroom lectures.

“The current state of the country’s digital infrastructure has become a challenge to distance learning, but this learning modality has different types,” the lawmaker added.

Barba said that broadcast-based learning is a type of distance learning that can be utilized in the country.

House Bill 7306 institutionalizes broadcast-based learning for primary and secondary education to provide free, public and accessible learning delivery modality for all learners.

Based on the measure, the Department of Education in consultation with the Presidential Communications Operations Office, and the Movie and Televisions Review and Classification Board shall develop a broadcast-based learning program and curriculum.

There should also be one master teacher per grade level to deliver the educational and instruction materials in accordance with the program.

All government-owned broadcasting stations are mandated to provide two hours a day from Monday to Saturday to air learning programs.

Any person violating any provision of the act shall be fined an amount ranging from P50,000 to P500,000.