DepEd TV starts final dry run for Oct. 5 class opening

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday started airing lessons on television channels as part of the final test run of its broadcast media learning modality for the upcoming school year.

In a press conference, DepEd Director Abram Abanil said 26 episodes will be aired on Monday in different channels as a rehearsal for the October 5 class opening.

“I am happy to announce na successful po ang aming pag-broadcast kaninang umaga,” Abanil said.

“From September 21, today, up to Friday, sa September 25, mag-dry run po kami ng 26 episodes corresponding to isang araw ng TV episode that will be airing on October 5,” he added.

Abanil said  the lessons were already aired on some of the partner channels including IBC 13, CignalTV, Solar Learning Channel and Digital TV, and GSAT Direct TV.

DepEd TV started airing lessons for Alternative Learning System at 7:30 a.m. The program will transition to lessons for grade school at 8:25 a.m. For senior high schools, movies will be aired at 4:45 p.m.

Abanil said professional development lectures for teachers and orientation for parents will be aired at 6:15 p.m.

In August, DepEd TV received criticism over a grammatical error spotted during the dry run broadcast.

According to Abanil, the DepEd created an 18-step workflow process to avoid a similar incident. The process includes thorough review by subject experts on modules and scripts.

For the October 5 class opening, Abanil said DepEd targets 130 episodes per week that cover major subject areas in most essential learning competencies. An episode is 30 minutes long with five minutes break.

At least 160 timeslots will be set up per channel.

Abanil said the following partners have committed to use their channels for DepEd TV:

• IBC 13 - 1 over the air TV channel
• PTV 4 - 4 hours over the air TV channel
• Solar TV - 1 digital channel
• Planet Cable - 1 cable channel
• Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association - 1 to 3 cable channels
• Cignal TV - 2 satellite TV channel
• GSAT - 1 satellite TV channel
• Gracia/LMP - 1 satellite TV channel
• Mabuhay Pilipinas TV - 13 satellite TV channels

Due to the COVID-19 threat, the DepEd decided to resume classes through blended learning, where students do not have to go to school to participate in classes to avoid transmission of the virus.

It also removed around 60% of the curriculum to adjust for the remote learning approach this coming school year, which was moved from August 24 to October 5.

The department has been preparing for ways to deliver education to students through self-learning modules, broadcast media, and the internet. —KBK, GMA News