Teacher in Catanduanes reaches out to students via walkie talkie

A teacher in Catanduanes has opted to use two-way handheld radios or walkie-talkies to teach students amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a report on State of the Nation with Jessica Soho. 

The project is called Radyo Eduko, which was the idea of Sherwyne Manlangit, a teacher at the Cagraray Elementary School.

“Bawal na nga ‘yung face-to-face, bakit hindi natin gamitin ‘yung mga radyo natin… Hanggang doon na nag-umpisa itong programang ito na Radyo Eduko o Radyo Edukasyon ko,” Manlangit said.

He added that they received donations of radios, which were distributed to the the students.

As a member of a broadcasting group, Manlangit used his knowledge in using two-way radios.

He noted an improvement in the communication between teachers and students. 

“Namo-monitor namin ‘yung aming mga mag-aaral na kung meron silang hindi nauunawaan sa kanilang aralain ay kaagad-agad silang nakakapag-tanong at kaagad-agad naman kaming nakakapghari… ng ideya,” Manlangit said.

Miguelito Rodriguez, Public School District Supervisor, said that most of the parents did not have the means to provide gadgets for their children for online learning.

“Almost 90 percent of the parents opted to choose modular instruction as their prepared learning modality, for the reasons that they don’t have access to online learning,” Rodriguez said.

Joel Masagca, a head teacher in Cagraray, said "Hindi lahat makakapag-bili ng, ano, cellphone. Kaya ‘yung school may mga nag-donate ng radio para gamitin na ibigay sa bata."

Imelda Palma, a mother of one of the students, also expressed her appreciation for the radios.

“Dahil sa radyo na ito, kahit papaano ay nakakasunod naman ang mga bata sa module. Kahit mahirap ay natutulungan ng teacher. Nagtatawagan sila kaya kahit hindi sila magkasama ay may komunikasyon sila sa isa’t isa,” she said. -- Joahna Lei Casilao/BAP, GMA News