VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte yesterday called on governments across the globe to harness modern technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), to improve access and upgrade quality and equality in education.
Duterte made the pitch in her keynote speech at the 2023 Global Education and Innovation (GEIS) Summit in Seoul, South Korea where educators are discussing ways to better improve the quality of education and its delivery.
“Never in the history of the world has information been so readily available to students, parents, and educators because of technology. Education has vastly evolved from the traditional imparting of knowledge in classrooms, at home from parents, and from our respective social circles and communities,” Duterte said.
“Education today must now exist side by side with technology, which continues to grow at an astoundingly rapid pace. We now live in an era where undeniably, technology must be harnessed to improve access, quality and equality in education. And the advent of artificial intelligence will certainly create another paradigm shift in education,” she added.
Duterte highlighted the role of technology when governments closed down schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting the traditional delivery of education and depriving students of social interactions that are largely developed in school settings such as group work and collaborative activities.
The Philippines closed schools in 2019 when COVID-19 cases were detected in the country and implemented blended learning to ensure that students will still get an education in the confines of their homes.
Blended learning, as defined by the Department of Education, refers to “face-to-face with any or a mix of online distance learning, modular distance learning, and or television or radio-based instruction.”
The new school year marked the return to full face-to-face learning in the country since the pandemic, with the DepEd targeting 28.8 million enrollees in public and private schools nationwide.
But Duterte cautioned that while the use of modern technology, including AI, will present newer and greater opportunities to governments bent on improving the quality and access to education, it will also present many uncertainties.
She said this is the reason why governments bent on implementing digital education should also focus on developing critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity among learners.
“It is equally important to teach children how to differentiate truthful information from the untrue, to know what contributes to a learner’s development and what does not, and what will instill in them the correct values that will turn them into productive citizens of their respective countries,” she said.
Duterte said countries must also be responsive to the effects of technology with their respective educational systems and to recognize what is and what is not working and change and adopt, and how to sustain the use of the new technology.
“We must recognize that some technologies may work for one ecosystem, but it may not work for others. It is the teachers and students who will be using it that will determine its effectiveness,” she said.
LEARNING POVERTY
The Philippines’ learning poverty rate is one of the highest among 22 middle-income East Asia and Pacific countries, according to a World Bank report.
According to the report titled Fixing the Foundation: Teachers and Basic Education in East Asia and Pacific, the Philippines’ learning poverty rate is 91 percent, second only to Laos’ 98 percent.
Learning poverty is whether a 10-year-old can read and understand age-appropriate reading material.
The World Bank said the learning poverty rate is above 50 percent in 14 of the 22 countries.
In upper-middle-income Malaysia, learning poverty is above 40 percent. In contrast, learning poverty is just three to four percent in Japan, Singapore and the Republic of Korea.
“The East Asia and Pacific region remain one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions in the world,” said World Bank East Asia and Pacific Vice President Manuela Ferro.
“Sustaining this dynamism and allowing today’s children to enjoy better jobs and living standards as productive adults requires that children have access to high-quality teaching that builds foundational skills for lifelong learning,” Ferro added.
The World Bank said that since most existing teachers will likely still be teaching in 2030, the report recommends a focus on strengthening teachers’ capabilities.
While data suggest that a significant percentage of the region’s teachers are trained each year, new surveys in various countries, including the Philippines, indicate training programs do not employ practices linked to improved student learning, the report said.
To be effective, the World Bank said trainings should bolster subject knowledge, offer opportunities to practice newfound knowledge among peers, include follow-up coaching and mentoring and provide career incentives linked to promotion or salary.
Teachers must also be rewarded for sustaining the quality of their teaching over the course of their careers, the report added.
Support and political commitment from policymakers to raise learning outcomes will be crucial to ensuring that change takes place, the report said.
New survey data from seven countries showed that policymakers underestimated the extent of learning poverty in their countries. The World Bank said introducing successful measures to raise teaching quality and improve student learning, including effective training and educational technology, will require more effective spending of existing resources as well as the allocation of additional resources. — With Angela Celis
