OVP working with LGUs to establish Community Hubs for distance learning
To help poor students cope with distance learning, Vice President Leni Robredo’s office (OVP) is working with various local government units (LGU) to set up “Community Hubs” in their areas.
According to Robredo, they are now in talks with the LGUs of Pasig City, Tanay, Rizal, Negros Occidental, and her hometown of Naga City in Camarines Sur for the project.
This is the third phase of the Bayanihan drive launched by Robredo’s office as the country’s educational system shifts to distance learning approach due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The others are the gadget donation and the production of videos to help teachers, students, and parents in the transition to the new learning platforms.
“Ang pinaka-idea ng Community Hub, mayroon kasing mga lugar na mahina iyong Internet signal o walang Internet signal, mayroon silang mapupuntahan sa community na hindi nila kailangan mag-commute.
Iyong mga bata, pagpunta nila doon, puwede silang makigamit ng computer, puwede silang mag-download, puwedeng mag-print ng mga lessons (The main idea of the Community Hub is that in areas where there is poor Internet signal, or no Internet signal, they have a community to go to without the need to commute. The children can use the computers, download and print their lessons),” she said on her radio show.
Robredo added that these hubs will also provide free tutorials to students on particular subjects.
“So iyon iyong inaasikaso natin ngayon, na mga Community Hubs na hindi magko-congregate iyong maraming bata, magse-schedule (So what we are doing now is making a schedule to prevent many children from congregating in community hubs),” she said.
With this initiative, the Vice President made clear her office has no intention to compete with the Department of Education (DepEd), but it only aims to “fill-in the gaps.”
The DepEd is now preparing for distance or blended learning approach in time for the opening of the classes on August 24.
The ongoing public school enrollment in basic education for the new school year would last until the end of the month.
Robredo suggested to the DepEd to study the proposal of conducting face-to-face classes in areas where there are no COVID-19 cases.
She explained that distance learning would present many challenges to the schools that have special needs for students.
“It will be very difficult to teach those at the early primary level who can’t read yet... For special education students, they need help from professionals in speech therapy,” she said in Filipino. (Raymund F. Antonio)