BACOLOD City – The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) rejected the proposal of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) to permit the Local School Board (LSB) here to operate a non-commercial FM broadcast radio station for the distance learning of students this School Year 2020-2021.
Gamaliel Cordoba, NTC commissioner, said they recognized the need to put up an alternative mode in the delivery of education disrupted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
However, Cordoba explained the broadcast frequency is a very limited natural resource. The NTC cannot afford to assign broadcast frequency to each and every school.
“The NTC and the Department of Education (DepEd) had been in constant coordination to ensure quality education through the use of cable TV and broadcasting facilities,” Cordoba wrote Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.
Cordoba suggested the LSB instead coordinate with the DepEd central office for a possible affiliation with the Philippines Broadcasting Service (PBS), a government-run radio station.
For his part, Councilor Renecito Novero, chairperson of the SP’s committee on education, said he has no choice but to respect NTC’s decision.
“It seems that our current blended distant learning system suffices the continuing education of our children,” he added.
The DepEd ordered a shift to blended or distance learning approach for the rescheduled opening on Oct. 5, 2020 due to the ongoing pandemic.
Children have to stay home for the remote learning, while parents or guardians have to go to schools weekly to pick up the learning modules./PN
