GMA Network, DepEd partner to air educational shows on TV

The Department of Education (DepEd) has partnered with GMA Network for the free use of its digital television channel for the department’s blended learning program as face-to-face classes remained postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The partnership was sealed through a signing of a memorandum of agreement between the DepEd and GMA on Friday.

GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon said the partnership is part of the Kapuso Network’s efforts to help the government curb the spread of the virus in the country while providing Filipino students access to basic education at the safety of their homes.

“GMA Network has always recognized the value of basic education to our school children. It is therefore our honor and privilege to join forces with the Department of Education and provide our TV platform for free to enable our young learners to have access to broadcast education while keeping them safe at home,” Gozon said.

"It is also GMA Network’s shared responsibility to be part of the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 and at the same time enrich the lives of Filipinos in ways that we can,” he added.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Leonor Briones expressed gratitude to GMA as the DepEd was already considering cutting back on the use of printed modules because it is expensive and not environment-friendly.

“We care for the environment. We don’t like to demolish all our forests in our demand for paper and right now we are suffering the consequences… We are now drowning, being engulfed in flood and typhoons so there are two aspects of our preference to move on to much less dangerous methods of learning delivery and we are very grateful to GMA for offering us their free assistance and their advice,” Briones said.

“We thank you for helping us move forward from wasteful, expensive, dangerous and life-threatening modalities of learning delivery to the concept of the use of technology and digital ways and we are very grateful for your assistance ,” she added.

DepEd TV will be available on GMA Affordabox’s Channel 7 and will begin its test broadcast in mid-December.

Lessons this school year may be given via online classes, or via use of printed modules, or use of TV and radio due to the health crisis.

Remote classes started on October 5, several weeks later than the initially planned on August 24, to give teachers and students more time to prepare for online and modular distance learning.

Online learning requires a gadget and a stable internet connection, while the modular distance learning method provides printed materials to students called modules which they are required to study and answer corresponding assessment tests weekly. -MDM, GMA News