Governor Jose Alvarez is eyeing the Singson-developed television platform Gracia Care Educational TV to help students in Palawan in their distance learning.
In his regular online press briefing Pakimanan ta si Gob on Wednesday, Governor Alvarez said he received an offer for a reasonable amount to provide internet access to the students of an estimated 3,000 schools in Palawan.
“Mayroong nag-o-offer ng very reasonable amount for the whole province, wala pa itong P5 million. Puwedeng pailawan the whole province na napakalaki nito more than 3,000 schools ang malalagyan nito. Napakaganda nito dahil lahat ng schools ay magkakaroon ng Wi-Fi,” Alvarez said.
Based on the local Department of Education (DepEd), there are 865 schools in the province — 671 elementary and 194 secondary.
Alvarez also said DITO, the new telco that wishes to operate in Palawan, has already complied with all requirements to put up communications towers. However, he said he is not relying on its help to power up distantly-located schools for the time being.
He said that this platform offered to him is an efficient tool as of now when it comes to the distance learning being implemented due to COVID-19.
“Wag muna natin asahan ‘yon dahil mayroon silang kumpletong franchise. Remember Palawan is an isolated island from the mainstream, ang mabilis ay ito talaga,” Alvarez said.
Narvacan Mayor Luis “Chavit” Singson and his daughter, Gracia Telecoms chief executive officer Charissa Singson, launched an educational television platform to help students in the municipality in distance learning.
A live demonstration for Grace Care Educational TV was conducted on Friday, June 26, according to a Facebook post.
According to Singson, Gracia Care uses a “cutting edge” provincial distancing learning infrastructure to allow students living even in remote barangays in Narvacan and Ilocos to watch recorded lessons through satellite TV.
“The service is free for students, as it can be carried by all cable tv operators and broadcasted over free to air TV and to an ordinary transistor radio,” Singson said.
The Department of Education decided to adopt a distance learning approach in the upcoming school year because the coronavirus pandemic is still ongoing.
(with reports from Jayra Joyce Taboada)
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