Globe vows connectivity, but seeks government help

The country isn’t likely to achieve its goal of providing digital literacy for all in the absence of a favorable government policy that would equip public elementary and secondary schools with Internet access by 2016.

The Philippine Digital Strategy (PDS), formulated in 2011, sets the national vision and road map to achieving information and communications technology (ICT) development in the country.

The PDS set targets for the provision of basic broadband access and Internet opportunities for all by 2016. Among such targets is that 100 percent of secondary schools in the country and 80 percent of elementary schools should have Internet access by 2016.

“To help the education sector, we are poised to aggressively deploy broadband infrastructure in the country. We want to build more cell sites and fill the infrastructure gap, so we can continue to support the country’s growth. To do this, we need government support to prioritize Internet infrastructure build. Today, far too many young Filipinos are unable to take full advantage of advancements in digital technology when compared with other countries, because a significant portion of the public-school system does not have Internet access,” Globe Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications Yoly Crisanto said.

A broadband policy brief released by Arangkada Philippines, a major advocacy of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, showed that close to 80 percent of public schools in the Philippines are still without Internet access.

According to the report, out of the 38,683 public primary schools in the country, only 14 percent, or 5,503, have Internet access, while 33,180, or 86 percent, have no data connectivity.

Also, only 55 percent, or 4,360 out of 7,915 public secondary schools, have Internet access, while the remaining 3,555, or 45 percent, are yet to gain such access. In total, 79 percent of the country’s public primary and secondary schools are yet to have data connectivi-ty.

“Access to basic education is a fundamental human right, and by integrating ICT into our public-education system, we are giving our young people the capability to compete globally in today’s digital environment,” Crisanto said.

In line with its vision of an ICT-integrated public education, Globe Telecom has been implementing the Global Filipino School (GFS) program for over three years now.

The program is a long-term educational initiative that seeks to transform select public schools into centers of ICT excellence, and provide innova-tive teaching methods and ICT.

Specifically, the program aims to advance 21st-century learning in our public-school system through an ICT-in-tegrated education and also create teacher training hubs to increase understanding and effective usage of ICT in the classroom.

In February, two public elementary schools in Cagayan de Oro City, Indahag Elementary School and Father William F. Masterson, SJ Elementary School, became the first schools to benefit under the expanded GFS program.

Globe has emphasized that mobile-data explosion, amid growing access to Internet connectivity, requires more bandwidth than traditional voice and text messaging services.