Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Friday he was mulling over a Senate probe on the content of the lessons to be used for distance learning after the Department of Education TV drew flak over the grammatical and typographical errors on some of its episodes.
The department had started the test broadcast of its TV episodes on the state-run Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation or IBC-13 and Solar Learning.
The photos from a Grade 8 lesson went viral, however, after netizens slammed what some had described as “painful” errors in the lesson.
While the department had acknowledged the errors and vowed to improve its TV broadcast content, Gatchalian said quality control should not be compromised amid the rush to make learning resources available when classes opened.
“We’ll probably have another hearing on the content aspect of distance learning because quality control is very important,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on basic education, arts and culture.
“In continuing education this time of crisis, we should not only be talking about reaching our children but focusing on quality education that they will receive even in their home.”
Gatchalian says the reach of television makes it a viable tool for distance learning, especially for those who have no internet connectivity.
According to Dataxis, a global firm specializing in telecom and media business, 18.7 million Filipino households had a television set in 2019, a number that is expected to increase to 20.7 million by 2024.
Gatchalian said that, since not all parents could teach their children at home because some of them had not completed schooling, teachers could guide learners through recorded lessons for television.
On the other hand, parents could ensure that their children were focused on studying.
Some local government units have already partnered with local television stations to broadcast recorded lessons. The local cable service provider in Luna, Isabela, for example, has provided two channels for the province’s “TV-Eskwela.”
One channel will be used for elementary school pupils while the other will be for high school students.
