THE ALLIANCE  of Concerned Teachers supports Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc. in its bid to extend its services and resources to the Department of Education  as the public education system shifts to remote learning in response to the Covid19 pandemic.

Since it premiered in 1999, Knowledge Channel has delivered quality educational content developed in collaboration with the education agency to millions of children and youth.

In its 21 years on air, it provided access to learning opportunities to 7.3 million households until the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Corporation was denied by Congress early this year following President Duterte’s repeated public threats of shutting down the network.

Its household reach dramatically dropped to 1.8 million as the network went off-air, and may continue to plunge with the recent order from the National Telecommunications Commission to recall its TV and radio frequencies.

“The ill-equipped education system is already grappling with the requisites for distance learning modalities coupled with the development of materials in line with the streamlined K-12 curriculum called the Most Essential Learning Competencies,” said the ACT in a statement.

“As such, we see no reason for the government to refuse Knowledge Channel’s offer to freely utilize its 1,500 professionally made educational videos based on the current curriculum that are available in various platforms: broadcast, portable media library, online sites and Knowledge TV.

“These are valuable resources at this particularly trying time for the country’s education system, especially with the dearth of quality materials from DepEd, the little time we have before schools open and the lack of substantial material support from the national government.”

“To deny the kind of service Knowledge Channel has to offer is to deny Filipino children and youth their fundamental right to accessible quality education especially at a time of pandemic,” the group added.

The Teachers Dignity Coalition also said that the DepEd should ensure that our children and youth benefit from the materials and services that Knowledge Channel can provide in keeping with its mandate to ensure learners’ enjoyment of their constitutional rights.

“Such becomes even more crucial in the face of enormous threats against the people’s basic rights and freedoms, which include the government’s closing down of ABS-CBN.