NTC’s failure to join hybrid Senate hearing seen as ‘omen’ on fate of online learning

The National Telecommunications Commission's (NTC) failure to participate in a "hybrid" Senate hearing of the panel on basic education on Thursday struck as an irony and disheartened senators on the possibility of online learning in the country amid the global pandemic.

NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba and Deputy Commissioner Edgardo Cabarios were invited to the hearing, which touched on the current status of preparations for blended forms of learning. However, a technical glitch on their end hampered discussions.

"Walang signal ang NTC ah. It's [not] a very good omen. NTC, naririnig nyo kami? Dapat pinakamalakas na signal is NTC. I think you're just here in Metro Manila," Senator Francis Tolentino said.

"NTC you don't have any signal. NTC are you still practicing state of the art technology? We can't hear you," he added.

"Commissioner Cabarios okay na ba ho kayo? Commissioner Cabarios? Mukhang may technical problems po ang NTC," Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on basic education, quipped a few minutes later.

"'Pag may technical problems po ang NTC, parang nawawalan na po ako ng pag-asa sa online learning na mangyayari sa bansa ho natin dahil ang NTC po ang regulator ng telcos," he added.

No representative from the NTC was able to appear until the hearing ended. The Senate has been holding a combination of physical and virtual hearings since May to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

Basic education classes in the Philippines will start on August 24 but face-to-face interactions will not yet be allowed.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon earlier warned that virtual forms of learning may put poor students at a disadvantage but the Department of Education said the alternative modes of learning will not be limited to online platforms.

Recently, some teachers in Davao De Oro had to camp out on the side of a highway just to get an internet signal and join a webinar in preparation for the new normal in education.

The dry run of blended delivery of lessons—through printed self-learning modules, internet, TV, and radio—will be held in the first half of August, according to the Department of Education. — BM, GMA News