Leading integrated telco network PLDT and its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) are helping expand the government’s inclusive education program in the municipality of Cawayan in the province of Masbate.
“PLDT and Smart believe that technology can help provide quality education to learners who are in unique circumstances. By providing them with digital learning tools, they now have access to educational materials that will help them learn on their own or with guidance from facilitators, and at their own pace,” said Stephanie Orlino, AVP and Head of Stakeholder Management at PLDT and Smart.
PLDT and Smart recently turned over ten units of desktop computers to the Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division Office (SDO) Masbate. These units will be deployed to Division Alternative Learning System (ALS) Learning Center in Barangay Poblacion and Divisoria Learning Center in Barangay Divisoria. ALS Learning Centers are community-based facilities that provide basic education for out-of-school children, youth, and adults.
Each desktop computer has been installed with the Central Visayan Institute Foundation Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF DLP) Learning Activity Sheets (LAS). Developed by Ramon Magsaysay awardees Dr. Christopher Bernido and the late Dr. Maria Victoria Bernido, the crisis-resilient CVIF DLP helps develop independent learners through the use of the LAS.
The donation deepens the cooperation between PLDT and Smart, and the DepEd SDO Masbate. PLDT and Smart onboarded the division to the CVIF DLP back in 2019. So far, around 40 ALS community learning centers across the province have implemented the pandemic-tested teaching pedagogy.
“We are grateful that PLDT and Smart chose our province as beneficiary. When you invest in education, you are also investing in a better future for our children, so they may help improve their communities and our country,” said Raymundo M. Cantonjos, DepEd Schools Division Superintendent.
The PLDT Group’s efforts to provide learners with learning tools and technology-enabled education programs empower and build bridges of collaboration across sectors and communities towards a sustainable future. PLDT and Smart create and support various educational initiatives in line with its commitment to helping the nation achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals No. 4: Quality Education.