The advent of the Internet has brought many wonders to people’s lives. One of them is education. Through the Internet, educators have been able to widen their reach to cover far-flung places that used to have limited access to learning tools.

This was the case in Thailand, where cybereducation has been running since 1995. No less than King Bhumibol Adulyadej spearheaded the project as part of his advocacy of providing learning opportunities for every Thai child.

In a recent tour for the Philippine media, Thailand’s Distance Learning Foundation (DLF) showed the impact of distance education to the Thai people. The success of this huge undertaking was a result of a great synergy between the public and private sector, said Sorada Duke, DLF chief director of international affairs, pointing out that the program was cited by the 10th ESCAP regional working group on satellite communications as a good model for distance education.

“They unanimously agreed that Satellite Tele-education Broadcast and Flexible Learning serves as a model for further development of distance-education program in the region for cost-effective and efficient technology option and the proper use of technology,” she said.

Partners

The stakeholders involved in the undertaking are the Ministries of Education, Information and of Communications and Technology, Royal Thai Army, Telephone Organization of Thailand Corp. (TOT), Communications Authority of Thailand and telecommunications companies Shin Corp. and Union Broadcasting Corp. (UBC).

As a nonprofit organization, the DLF relies on the support from the Thais, foreign individuals and academic organizations from Thailand and overseas.

The TOT provides two fiber-optic land and sea lanes totaling 400 kilometers long. It also provided four toll-free numbers for the interactive communication with the parent school. Furthermore, TOT is shouldering the videoconferencing costs with institutions like the University of Oregon, as well as those in Europe and Southeast Asia.

The DLF shoulders the cost of the satellite uplink and the renting of the transponder and provides free receiving equipment for all the schools.

For airing, the UBC allows the foundation to use its channels for the on-air broadcast. The Royal Thai Army took charge of installing the equipment for the school-beneficiaries.

For its part, the Ministry of Education supports the DLF by providing qualified teachers to teach on-air at the Wang Klaikangwon School and assist in developing the teachers’ manual for remote schools.

The DLF tapped the University of Oregon for a partnership in conducting two certificate courses on English teacher training through videoconferencing. The two educational institutions are even currently developing a course in green chemistry and mathematics.

The Swedish Agency for Flexible Learning, meanwhile, helps the DLF in organizing teacher training on the methodology of distance education, also through videoconferencing.

United Nations agencies such as the Food Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization, UN Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN Children’s Emergency Fund, as well as foreign embassies and the Thai embassies abroad supply the international programs for the international channel. Programs of the Voice of America, for instance, are provided by the US Embassy.

Telecommunications vendors offer special discounts for the hardware and software equipment.

Volunteerism is also a strong component of the program, as both locals and foreigners share their time and talent by teaching in the DLF.

To save on taxes and duties, the customs bureau provides tax exemption on the imported equipment.

Wang Klaikangwon School

The DLF is fortunate to have Khwankeo Vajaradoya, the current grand chamberlain of the Wang Klaikangwon School, for his zeal and passion toward education. He was tapped by King Bhumibol for his wide experience in broadcast, having served as the manager of the King’s radio station for a long time.

Upon assuming his post, Duke said Vajaradoya was concerned with the widening gap in the quality of education between students in the rural areas and those studying at the Wang Klaikangwon, the King’s private school located in the famous resort of Hua Hin, Prachuabkirikhan province, 200 kilometers south of Bangkok.

Since 1995 Wang Klaikangwon has served as the mother school for distance learning in Thailand.

“Mr. Vajaradoya realized there must be some way to bridge the gap because failing to solve this problem will result in fewer opportunities for students in the rural areas to enter university,” Duke said.

Being a seasoned broadcaster, Vajaradoya knew telecommunications would be the main difference in making this dream a reality. He suggested to the then-education minister during the 50th anniversary of the King’s ascension to the throne in 1995 to support distance education. The first five live transmissions of the curricula from Grades 7 to 12 on six channels were launched on the King’s birthday in 1995.

According to Vajaradoya, a total of 12,221 out of the total 30,000 primary schools and 2,650 secondary schools have benefited from the live broadcasts of the whole curriculum from the school.

Furthermore, the DLF provided satellite discs to 350 Muslim schools, with the Royal Thai Army providing free installation.

“The students in the remote areas study the same lessons being taught to students in Wang Klaikangwon,” said Duke.

Aside from being a hub for cyber-education in Thailand, Wang Klaikangwon offers free 12-year basic education starting from Grades 1 to 12. Its vocational college also offers community education wherein students are taught various technical skills such as automotive repair, food technology and toy making, among others.

For the college level, the Rattanakosin Rajamangala University of Technology is the school’s major partner.

Work and studies

The Philippine media was also brought to Rajaprajanugroh 29 School Sisaket, one of the beneficiaries of the DLF, to show how satellite education has done wonders to one of its beneficiaries.

Founded in 1994 and located at Sisaket province, the school was designed to accommodate children who suffered from poverty, insurgency battles, AIDS, natural disasters and drugs. It is a boarding school for boys and girls, beginning from Grade 1 (Pratomsuksa 1) to high-school level (Matayomsuksa 6). The Rajaprajanugroh school has 53 teachers, 912 students and classrooms. It offers basic education and vocational training,

Rajaprajanugroh, which means mutual help and support between the King and the Thai people, was the underlying philosophy behind the establishment of the schools whose main objective is to bring education to the marginalized people in the north, northeast and southern provinces of Thailand. Established 44 years ago, the Rajaprajanugroh system has a total of 44 schools around Thailand.

Wisit Withayaworakharn, director of the Rajaprajanugroh 29 School, pointed out that satellite education has greatly benefited the students because it has enabled them to receive quality education through the wonders of technology.

Before the advent of satellite education, Withayaworakharn said Rajaprajanugroh 29 also experienced a low quality of instruction primarily because of the lack of competent teachers. He noted it was a common practice then for physical-education teachers to also teach English, science and mathematics.

Withayaworakharn noted the visit of Vajaradoya in 2003 changed the scenario. He spearheaded the move to link Rajaprajanugroh 29 to Wang Klaikangwon School.

Furthermore, the school implemented Queen Sirikhit’s proposal of putting up a food bank, building bigger dormitories and providing agricultural tools for the vocational students. In their spare time, students grow plants and vegetables and take care of animals to develop skills for self-sufficiency in accordance to the royal proposal of “The Self-Sufficient Economy.” The school then buys the products of the students at market prices and at the same time helps them to bring to market their products by providing them a vehicle for transportation.

Withayaworakharn said they achieved encouraging results for the program. The students learned how to live like a true family; developed agricultural skills toward self-sufficiency; honed time-management skills as they juggled work and studies; developed a good work ethic, as well as frugality and prudence; and were able to interact with other members of society.

Furthermore, Withayaworakharn stressed that distance learning also enabled some Rajaprajanugroh 29 students to enter college. One student is now taking her postgraduate studies in Switzerland after finishing her Bachelor of Arts in Tourism and Hotel Management with honors at Kasembandit University.

The Philippine version

The Philippines, particularly the Department of Education (DepEd), is quite convinced that cybereducation is the silver bullet to all the problems hounding Philippine education. According to the DepEd, cybereducation “is an educational intervention that aims to maximize information and communications technology to address age-old problems of the Philippine public basic-education sector.”

This was the reason behind the P26.48-billion cybereducation project (CEP) to be financed by a loan from the Chinese government.

Using satellite technology, the CEP will link all schools throughout the country to a nationwide network that will provide 12 video channels, wireless wide-area networking, local area networking and wireless Internet connectivity. Schools will receive live broadcasts featuring lectures and presentations from master teachers. A total of 37,794 schools, or 90 percent of all public schools nationwide, are expected to be connected in the next three years.

“The Cyber Ed Project utilizes distance-education technology that is proven effective, and is currently in use in other countries,” said Jess Mateo, director of the DepEd’s Educational Program Implementing Task Force.

The DepEd pointed out that if the country does not implement the CEP, the Philippines will be pushed further into the abyss of educational underdevelopment.

But not everyone agrees. Former education secretary Florencio Abad lamented there are other problems that need to be addressed by the DepEd first. For instance, he noted the declining level of competency of Grade 6 students in the public schools needs to be given a serious look. In 2003 a high-school readiness examination conducted by the DepEd indicated that 99.4 percent or 1.2 million of the examinees were not ready for high school. “Their level competency was only up to Grade 4,” said Abad.

Furthermore, the DepEd did not conduct a thorough feasibility study on the project, Abad charged. Being an official development assistance project, Abad said it is imperative for the DepEd to pursue a thorough study on the matter.

“With a bad history of donor-driven projects, the DepEd must study seriously the pros and cons of the CEP because this is a highly expensive project,” he said.

Prior to going into cybereducation, Abad said Thailand had been investing heavily on education. According to Abad, Thailand allots an average of P21,000 per student compared with the Philippines’ P7,000.

Furthermore, Thailand’s cyber education program has high acceptance among the people primarily because it is led by King Bhumibol, who has a high moral ascendancy among his subjects. It’s the reverse in the Philippines, he said, because major projects in the country are perceived to be tainted with anomalies and done with a small degree of transparency.

But the DepEd is appealing to critics to give the grandiose project a chance.

“It may be hard to see its benefits right now, but we are confident that the project will provide a cost-effective solution to the need to deliver educational services to public elementary and secondary schools throughout the country, “ said Vilma Labrador, DepEd undersecretary for programs and projects.

According to the DepEd, the CEP is expected to enhance the delivery of basic education by boosting student competence and upgrade the capabilities of teachers and school administrators. It also seeks to enhance school-based management and internal controls.

Still Abad stressed that the DepEd has just to look at the basic solutions in confronting the problems. “DepEd is not an ordinary agency. It is tasked of developing the minds of the youth. At the same time, it must maintain respect and credibility,” he said.

“If they want to make an impact on education, the DepEd must address the problems of basic education because its business is education, not being a technology connectivity provider.”

Mario Taguiwalo, a former consultant of the DepEd, stressed that technology connectivity is not the main problem of basic education. Instead, he said the DepEd must address teacher training, classroom shortage, school infrastructure, nutrition and the dropout rate, among others.

Even with state-of-the-art equipment, Taguiwalo said it would be impossible for a student to absorb the lessons if his stomach is empty.

As far as connectivity is concerned, Taguiwalo said the government should instead put funds into projects like Gearing-up Internet Literacy and Access for Students (Gilas), which is initiated by a group of private companies and aimed at providing an Internet lab for each of the 5,443 public high schools in the Philippines.

“There are other needs in the system. If they were given money, Gilas can expand and Knowledge Channel can scale to create a bigger impact,” he said.

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