📷Education Secretary Sonny Angara
Education Secretary Sonny Angara said that improving the quality of education in the country demands a collective effort from all sectors, rather than being solely the responsibility of the DepEd.
In his keynote address during the Social Good Summit 2024 that Rappler conducted over the weekend, Angara emphasized several pressing challenges in the education sector that are intensifying the ongoing learning crisis, such as the country’s lack of 165,000 classrooms.
“In our furthest and farthest, we need to construct around 8,500 Last Mile Schools and electrify 2,000 schools. We need to ship hundreds of thousands of textbooks, laptops, and laboratory equipment, and much of this is delayed,” Angara said.
“We’re spending our resources on the construction of classrooms. We’re not just talking about budget here, but also time. This is the time to align with (Department of Public Works and Highways) and Congress to move in lockstep with districts. This is time to coordinate with (the Department of Energy) so they could hand off our energized classrooms to electric cooperatives,” Angara added.
Nevertheless, Angara remains hopeful that he can bring about meaningful reforms during his tenure as DepEd chief.
“I only have three years in this role. You can only do so much with that time. Two decades in the legislature have also given me perspective. I’ve seen the lengths and limits of what agencies can do. But here’s the boring answer: Making the trains run on time is what the data tells us to do,” Angara said.
On AI use
During a panel discussion, Angara discussed the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education. He was accompanied by Ateneo professor Maria Mercedes Rodrigo and Save the Children Chief Executiveeo Profe, Officer Alberto Muyot , an education expert.
In the same event, Angara stressed that an individual’s values play a key role in using Artificial Intelligence (AI), as instilling values in today’s students is a shared responsibility between schools and their families.
He added that the responsible use of AI is not solely the responsibility of the DepEd.
“Your values will determine how you use the AI. You can use it for a lot of destructive purposes. That’s the role of the school, but it’s also the role of the family,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muyot underscored the importance of teachers in the Philippines’ “redefine” their teaching approaches in order to integrate AI into education.
“AI is a good tool, but teachers should now look at themselves not only as the repository of knowledge as it was before, but rather the facilitator for critical thinking,” Muyot said.
Rodrigo, for her part, said AI should not be viewed as a threat as it also has good benefits to people.
“I agree with the point that there might be this super reliance and that is a danger, and there should be guardrails. I agree with all of that. But I also try to be a little optimistic because I think there are also tremendous benefits,” she said. (TCSP)
