UN research body cites Globe’s Global Filipino Schools program
There is no doubt that the Internet of Everything (IoE) has revolutionized the way people live and communicate, and one sector that reaped tremendous benefits is education. By connecting to the internet, students gain access to tons of crucial learning resources for all subjects, while teachers learn new and improved teaching techniques to become better educators and bring learning to a whole new level.
Underpinning the importance of connectivity to education, one of Globe Telecom’s key initiatives, the Global Filipino Schools (GFS) program was included in a recent research study on broadband connectivity for inclusive and quality education conducted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The 52-page study, entitled “Inclusive Use of Broadband Connectivity for Quality Education, Insights from Asia
and the Pacific” (https://www. unescap.org/resources/inclusiveuse-broadband-connectivity-quality-education-insights-asia-and
pacific ) was released online on Sept. 17 with GFS as the only example from the Philippines cited by the paper.
The GFS program began in 2012 and continues to be implemented up to this time. Its goal is to promote 21st Century learning in the Philippines by supporting public schools’ transformation into centers of ICT excellence by providing broadband connectivity, mobile devices and teacher training on how technology can be integrated into the classroom. It already created various partnerships between the government and the private sector like providing the classroom infrastructure and training modules.
“We are proud that international organizations have signified interest in our GFS program for public schools. The success of this initiative also relied on the strong support given by the Department of Education,” said Yoly Crisanto, Globe chief sustainability officer and SVP for corporate communications. “Our next step is to integrate more advanced technologies onto the program.”
Early this year, UNESCO tapped Globe to work with them on the research with the GFS program serving as a case study, where its history and how it came about as a program was cited in a total of five pages.
The research presented and analyzed a total of seven case studies that effectively used broadband technologies for quality education and covered four countries such as Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Philippines. It aims to increase Asia-Pacific countries’ understanding of how best to leverage broadband connectivity for their education systems, and promote dialogue among stakeholders on maximizing the quality of broadband for learning.