Saturday, December 08, 2007
City to try e-learning for out-of-school youth
ALARMED by the increasing number of high school dropouts and poor performance in the National Achievement Test (NAT), the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) began setting the stage for a nationwide rollout of the eSkwela Project yesterday in a regional roadshow.
The eSkwela Project is a CICT program that aims to give information and communications technology (ICT)-enhanced alternative education for Filipino out-of-school youths (OSYs) and adults.
It provides access to learning opportunities through a non-formal, community-based e-learning program as a way to help the 22 percent of the youth who are out of school.
This was based on the 2003 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (Flemms).
According to the records of the Department of Education (DepEd), out of 100 Grade 1 students enrolled, only 66 make it through Grade 6.
Only 14 end up graduating from college.
The primary reason is poverty, forcing children to drop out of school to work and help in the family, the survey read.
Proponents of the alternative learning system (ALS) added that several studies show the existing full-time traditional education systems do not work for the OSYs.
“We are fighting a losing battle because children past six years old are quite hard to teach. But I am convinced that one way to do it, to make them really interested in learning, is through the computer,” said Cebu City Hall education consultant Joy Augustus Young.
A good start
He said the pilot site of eSkwela in Cebu, located in the Tejero Elementary School, is “a good start” even if it was built according to what the stakeholders can afford.
The local counterparts in the Department of Education are urging community stakeholders, including local governments and nongovernment organizations, to provide the project’s infrastructure in their communities.
Rebecca Ouano, Tejero’ ALS district coordinator, said that completing the components of the program, including infrastructure deployment, curriculum review, community support, stakeholders’ training, and monitoring and evaluation, may cost stakeholders over P500,000 worth of donations.
She stressed, however, that eSkwela can start with just a couple of computers.
The eSkwela was formed to address the dilemma of OSYs and offer relevant, interactive multimedia learning resources that will be the primary source of instruction.
After the eSkwela’ pilot implementation in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro that started in July last year, the CICT will focus on adding more than 100 e-learning modules to their existing shelf of more than 30 modules. (NRC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (December 8, 2007 issue)
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