Teachers had sought internet signal on school's roof only once –DepEd

The Department of Education on Monday clarified that teachers at a Batangas high school clambered on to the roof of their school for an internet signal, a photo of which went viral, had done so only once.

According to Mariz Umali’s report on “24 Oras,” the teachers had needed the internet signal to attend a learning delivery modalities course.

Netizens had criticized the DepEd for their alleged inaction on the matter as the country transitioned to a blended learning system amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On October 5, the teachers told GMA News that they climbed on to the Sto Niño National High School’s roof to show what they went through to deliver blended learning to students.

While the DepEd admitted that there were times when the internet signal was down, this did not happen all the time. It also said that the Sto Niño National High School focused more on learning modules.

“Yes, there are signal issues since as the principal noted, the area appears to be at the boundary of network coverage,” DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan explained.

However, the DepEd added that news organizations were not completely truthful about the viral roof photo.

“The representation that going to the roof is a regular occurrence is not true. The original picture happened only once,” Malaluan said.

The Sto. Niño National High School also clarified that the October 5 photos were misinterpreted by the public.

Meanwhile, the DepEd also clarified that only one of the errors in the learning modules that went viral on social media had gotten past the DepEd's vetting.

“Doon po sa 35 na ‘yon, ang kino-confirm po naming may mali na talagang dumaan sa aming team at performance review ay isa. Ang gagawin sa lahat ng mali ay mag-i-issue ng errata sa lahat ng field offices, regions or division offices. Mayroon pong 18 instances na ito po’y ginamit sa limited areas lamang,” DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said.

DepEd Undersecretary Alain Pascua also said that the errors which aired on DepEd TV were just a small percentage of their episodes.

“Out of the 111 video episodes, two episodes were seen to contain errors. We have made sure that the errors have been corrected right then and there,” Pascua said.

The DepEd added it will ask help from the private sector in assuring the quality of the videos that will air on DepEd TV.

It also launched the DepEd Error Watch where the public can report errors in modules or DepEd TV episodes. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News