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MANILA - The Department of Education (DepEd) is enlisting the help of the country's top broadcast journalists to train teachers for their television learning service, an official said Saturday.

"It's the idea of the team . . . Of course, there were people who suggested it's going to be more effective if we would have personalities or celebrities," Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio told ANC.

Among those who were tapped to train teachers for DepEd TV as the country shifts to distance learning are Kim Atienza, Arnold Clavio, Karen Davila, Korina Sanchez and Jessica Soho.

DepEd’s Teacher-Broadcaster Training Program will help equip a selected group of teachers to become effective presenters on television and will also allow them to understand the elements of video production, Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua said in a statement Friday.

The DepEd is also planning to build broadcast-ready studios nationwide, he added. Currently, 16 areas are already preparing for this, including Ilocos Norte, Lanao del Norte, Pangasinan, Zamboanga, Palawan and Davao.

Information and Communications Technology Service Director Abram Abanil said the agency was eyeing to produce 130 episodes per week, which would only cover the major subject areas under the most essential learning competencies.

Meanwhile, San Antonio said the DepEd was ready for the school opening on October 5, saying a majority of schools have conducted dry runs.

"We are assured that our schools are, more than 70 percent of them, have done their own dry runs. The rest would be doing the simulations prior to October 5," he said.

"We've been assured that the preparations are on target because we had even extra time to prepare for the things we wanted to work on. We feel that we are ready, much ready to open the school year come October 5."

On that day, students will be learning at home through printed and digital modules, online classes, television and radio.

The government has prohibited in-person classes until a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in the country.

More than 24.5 million students enrolled for the school year despite the pandemic, according to DepEd data as of September 18.

Of the total number of learners, more than 22 million are in public schools while the rest are enrolled in private schools.