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US, Knowledge Channel team up to improve children's literacy
US, Knowledge Channel team up to improve children's literacy
ABS-CBN News
Published Mar 13, 2023 06:47 PM PHT
Officials from the United States Agency for International Development, Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. and Department of Education sign a memorandum of understanding to air educational videos on television to improve learning outcomes of early grade learners. Photo from the US Embassy
MANILA — The United States (US) government and Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) are collaborating to help improve the reading skills of Kindergarten to Grade 3 students through broadcast-based resources, the US Embassy in Manila said Monday.
Under their partnership forged last March 10, the KFCI will regularly broadcast starting Monday existing learning materials co-created by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines (ABC+) program implementing partner RTI International, and the Department of Education (DepEd).
"These programs were designed to instill genuine love for reading in young children and help them master the four macro literacy skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing," the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy said the partnership would help address learning gaps in the Philippines' education sector and ensure that children have access to quality education.
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USAID Philippines Deputy Mission Director Rebekah Eubanks said her agency would "continue to forge and strengthen partnerships with the private sector to expand learning opportunities for [Filipino] children."
KCFI President and Executive Director Rina Lopez, meanwhile, said bringing video lessons to more audiencess across the country would make "a meaningful contribution to the efforts of schools, teachers, and parents... who are working hard to enrich the learning of their students and children."
"It is our fervent hope that this work will encourage practitioners and teachers to be knowledgeable, skillful, and insightful as we all work together to the care and education of young children," Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla added.
A 2022 report from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) found that only less than 15 percent of Filipino children can read a simple text at age 10.
The DepEd has launched an agenda aimed at addressing learning losses incurred due to the absence of in-person classes in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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