DepEd wants Internet shops near Iloilo schools regulated 

Following the poor performance of Iloilo City schools in the National Achievement Test, the local Department of Education wants Internet cafés near schools regulated.

The DepEd asked the city government for help in regulating such establishments in the city, Iloilo-based news site The Daily Guardian reported early last week.

“Nowadays, you could no longer see children reading books. Instead they are reading everything from the Internet,” the report quoted DepEd Western Visayas regional director Corazon Brown as saying.

Citing the NAT results for School Year 2012-2013, the Daily Guardian report said Iloilo City schools placed last in the elementary level among 18 schools divisions in Western Visayas.

It added Iloilo City schools failed to reach the Top 10 in the secondary level.

Brown said DepEd's Order No. 86 in 2010, which prohibited students from going to establishments like computer shops during class hours, may not be enough.

Neither is an ordinance by the city council banning the establishment of Internet cafés within a 100-meter radius from schools.

“(T)hat is not enough. We need the help of the local government in strictly implementing the order,” said Brown.

She added the DepEd could no longer monitor Internet cafés violating the order.

Meanwhile, Brown said the NAT results should be a challenge to city schools, the teachers and the DepEd. “Let us look at it positively and let it be a wakeup call for everyone,” she said.

Dr. Brown also asked cooperation from the parents. “We are part of the problem, thus, we will also be part of the solution,” she said. — LBG, GMA News