ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PH ONLINE LIBRARY

 SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian is supporting  a bill that would create libraries that would provide elementary and secondary students with unrestricted access to digitized textbooks and educational resources.

The head of the Senate Committee on Basic Education emphasized the importance of using digital technologies in education to maintain learning continuity and fill in any gaps caused by disruptions in the classroom.

“While we return to face-to-face classes, our public libraries, one of the country’s pathways to educational resources, should remain pandemic-proof – ubiquitous and accessible – regardless of the geographical location and type of device used by the learners,” Gatchalian said.

“Bahagi ng pagsulong natin sa digital transformation sa sektor ng edukasyon ang ating mga aklatan. Sa pamamagitan ng panukala nating Philippine Online Library, hindi lamang natin matitiyak ang pagpapatuloy ng edukasyon, matitiyak din natin na ang ating mga mag-aaral ay magkakaroon ng access sa mga dekalidad na aklat at mga learning materials,” he added.

Under Senate Bill 477, or the Philippine Online Libraries Act, the Department of Education is required to produce digitized copies of all textbooks and reference materials deemed necessary for the public education of primary and secondary school students. increase.

These will be collected in a proposed Philippine online library jointly managed by DepEd and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.

DepEd and the National Library of the Philippines share custody of digitized copies of textbooks.

To ensure access to digitized copies of textbooks, DepEd provides computers, laptops, and other appropriate equipment to all public elementary and middle schools nationwide. Meanwhile, DICT provides free, reliable, and secure Internet access to all public elementary and high schools under Republic Act 10929 or the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act.

SOURCE: THE POST