The pandemic has forced schools to deploy various modalities to deliver education to students. As access to different technologies varies per area and per family, the paper-based modules have been implemented by DepEd as the standard of learning delivery during the past school year.

The leadership team of DepEd NCR, however, believes that adding TV-based instruction to the modular delivery can enhance learning effectiveness especially to students in the Kinder to Grade 3 levels. Hence, a partnership was formed with Solar Learning and Thames International School.

After the MOA signing between and among the three organizations, DepEd NCR Regional Director Wilfredo Cabral stated, “TV-based instruction is the most accessible, appropriate and responsive learning delivery modality for the first key stage of learning supplemented by printed modules to develop the psychomotor skills of the learners.”

The partnership will have the Solar Learning production team and DepEd’s content developers working hand-in-hand on producing DepEd-approved modules for TV. Thames International, meanwhile, will focus on training teachers on how to use the medium of television as an instructional tool. All produced content will be aired on Solar’s digital terrestrial television channel, known as Solar Learning DepEd NCR Channel.

This solution of TV-based instruction comes as a welcome development as face-to-face classes in many areas are still not possible at this time.

“Through this venture with our partners, Solar Entertainment aims to alleviate the worry of parents who cannot afford online learning for their young children due to limited resources and lack of Internet connectivity. This is a great opportunity for us to show that TV is an affordable and far-reaching medium to entertain and educate,” said Mr. Wilson Tieng, CEO of Solar Entertainment, the parent company of Solar Learning.

Mr. Joel Santos, President of Thames International adds, “This partnership is a wholistic solution to the challenges our teachers, students, and their families face. All bases are covered from curriculum development, access via TV broadcast and teacher training to ensure that our students are able to learn effectively despite the pandemic.