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| Batanes schools surf the web via wireless technology ___________________ |
| Last updated 08:39pm (Mla time) 07/25/2007 By Kristine L. Alave Inquirer |
| MANILA, Philippines -- In Batanes, the northernmost and smallest Philippine province, the Internet came first before the telephone. Last June, the Batanes provincial government, with the help of private sector partners, established Internet connection in all of its public schools, besting other more accessible cities with much better infrastructure. Getting the Batanes public school system wired was one of the milestones celebrated by the Gearing up for Internet Literacy and Access for Students (GILAS), a project by a consortium of private consortium and the Department of Education (DepEd) launched in January 2005. The program aims to provide Internet access for students and basic Internet literacy programs in all of the 6,030 public high schools by the year 2010. For every school, there are at least 10 computers that the students can practice on. According to GILAS computations, 10 computers can provide 400 hours of learning for students. More than two years into the program, GILAS had connected 1,441 high schools to the Internet, including those in remote and mountainous towns in provinces like Batanes and Misamis Oriental. As of June 2007, all public secondary schools in 22 cities nationwide have been connected to the Internet. Although Batanes is a small province located 280 kilometers off the northernmost tip of Luzon, putting it on the digital map was difficult and challenging as the country's northernmost province doesn't even have telephone lines and enjoy only partial electricity in some municipalities, officials behind the project said. It took one and a half years for the Batanes project to be finished. Former Batanes representative Dina Abad, who used part of her pork barrel to roll out the project, said they had to get help from many technical people to hurdle certain technical and geographical obstacles. Abad said the mountains made it hard for technicians to establish SMART Telecoms' wireless connections' line of sight. "The reception was difficult because of the islands and the mountainous terrain," she said in a briefing Wednesday. Abad also explained that GILAS technicians had to find ways to protect the equipment from the island's strong winds and stormy weather, which could disrupt the signals. GILAS and the Batanes province tapped the University of the Philippines' Electrical and Electronics Engineering to install Internet connections in the mainland and in the other islands. UP engineering students trekked to the mountains to put up antennas and made special gadgets that would receive the wireless broadband signals and configured the computers. Before GILAS came to town, Abad said the only Internet connection in the province could be found in the few computer terminals in the capital town of Basco. Batanes residents and schools, she noted, were discouraged at the high costs of Internet connection via satellite -- the only option available in province -- which could run up to at least P15,000 a month, an unthinkable luxury in a place where residents' main occupation are farming and fishing. Teenage students were excited about the technology, Abad said. Abad hopes that the Internet access in schools would improve the Batanes students' computer literacy and prepare them for college. Abad said the technology would facilitate communication and improve the classroom experience. Tasks such as updating teachers with their lessons, helping students advance on subject matters they want to research, and sending of reports to reports to regional and national offices will now be easier and more convenient. In the future, Abad hopes that teachers nationwide can meet on cyberspace, share lesson plans, and discuss teaching methods. Mario Deriquito, director for Ayala Foundation Inc.'s Center for Social Development, said schools should encourage students to discover the Internet, while sticking to the Deped'scybereducation curriculum. Governor Oscar Moreno, of the province of Misamis Oriental, which recently had all its high schools connected to the Internet said he does not mind students who chat and play games or surf social networking sites like Friendster as long as it's in moderation. Moreno said such activities help students get comfortable with the technology and realize its potential. "The children, they are naturally techies. They will play games, access Friendster ... They need to experiment because that is how they learn the computer," the governor explained. "It's a liberating thing. It's empowering. Imagine, those students from the mountains can now access the Internet," he added. Like Batanes, Misamis Oriental was another challenge for GILAS as schools in the province are located far from the good roads and are sometimes located in mountain villages. Misamis Oriental is the first province in Mindanao to be fully connected, giving its 59 public high schools the opportunity to access the world through just one click of a mouse. |