THE newly formed Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) must work on improving the country’s Internet bandwidth to enable the Filipinos to have easier access to cyberspace.
“By providing quality Internet access, the marginalized, handicapped and other sectors can have greater access to information, which they can use as a tool empowerment in improving their lives,” according to Edicio G. de la Torre, former director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
Since the Philippines is an archipelagic country, de la Torre said it is logical and practical for the government to invest more in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure to enable people in the rural areas to improve and develop their capabilities. De la Torre, who became Tesda chief in 1998, said ICT can “develop a sustained and organized engagement” for the education sector that can benefit the country in the long run.
“ICT can help level the playing field in education by providing access to people living in the rural the proper tools in learning,” de la Torre said in a news briefing organized by the Philippine Business for Education. “We must scan thoroughly the ICT potential, especially now, with the emergence of smartphone, because going mobile is the way to go.” However, de la Torre stressed the education sector has to hurdle the bias against alternative sources of learning. He noted the opposition to the disruptive methods of learning will hamper development and, at the same time, could not deliver learning to other people.
De la Torre pointed out that ICT can provide many opportunities to the people in the provinces by sharing them newer technologies and methods in agriculture, fishing, livestock, marketing, production and alternative education, as well.
The Philippines, with a big agriculture base, can harness the ICT tools to improve the lot f the farmers. For instance, farmers can have access to price information, agriculture information, and national and international markets, he said.
Image credits: Rizal Raoul Reyes