DepEd to air 130 TV lecture episodes in a week for blended learning

To aid students as a part of its measures on blended learning, the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking to air 130 lecture episodes on television amid the health crisis brought by coronavirus.

Photo credit: interaksyon.philstar.com

DepEd Director Abram Abanil said during the hearing of the Senate committee on basic education, each lecture episode will run around 20 minutes with five minute breaks in between. The episodes will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., he added.

By October 5, the target is to be able to produce 130 episodes per week. These 130 episodes cover only the major subject areas under the most essential learning competencies,

Abanil said.

There are supposed to be 220 subject areas but as of the moment, hindi pa namin kaya yung 220 [We can't produce all of the 220 subjects] so we are targeting only for the major subject areas this coming October 5, so 130 episodes per week, 

he added.

By January Abanil said that they are planning to increase the aired episodes up to 220 per week and include dubbing of K-3 subject areas into the local language.

There are 19 languages under the mother tongue. We still have to plot out among our resources which will be able to cover the 19 languages but already incorporated in the 130 episodes will be Filipino sign language,

Abanil said.

We have a dedicated studio just for putting in Filipino sign language into all our video episodes, 

he added.

DepEd’s partner channels include IBC 13, PTV4, Solar TV, Planet Cable, the Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Cignal TV, among others.

Currently, DepEd has five studios, 18 public schools for off-site shootings, 107 teacher broadcasters, and 72 production staff, Abanil said. DepEd plans to air 24 episodes from September 21 to 25 to allow them to “practice” the logistics behind getting the episodes ingested into TV stations.

Moreover, DepEd official said that they are also building up several production sites in various regions in the country such as Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Quezon, Batangas City, Palawan, Zamboanga City, and Davao City, among others, to help in the production of the episodes.