5. Digital Literacy

The promotion of digital literacy has been a priority for successive governments but it has not been systematically implemented or fully institutionalized. The introduction and sustainability of the initiatives depends largely on local and national leadership. This explains the uneven levels of investment in digital literacy efforts at the local level and in educational institutions.

The Department of Education has implemented ICT initiatives like the Learning Resource Management and Development System⁶¹ (an online library containing free teaching-learning materials available for download) and ICT literacy programmes for primary and secondary education. However, there is no update or assessment in relation to these programmes yet.

Currently, the Department of Education does not offer digital literacy in all public schools. According to an observation from Philippine Statistical Authority (2014), “Some public schools are privileged to have a computer laboratory with 15 to 20 computer units. However, with the current population of students in schools run by the government, not all are guaranteed an opportunity to apply what the computer teacher has taught them, since the student-computer ratio is below the requirement. What is worst is the fact that those schools in far flung areas have no computers at all. ” The Department of Education reports that Science, Technology and Engineering Curriculum programmes are being offered through regional Science High Schools and through special science classes in schools offering science, technology, and engineering courses. In these classes, students go through rigorous training in Math and Science subjects.⁶² The challenge for government is to sustain and improve these initiatives.

Within the Department of Education is the Bureau of Alternative Learning System, which provides free education to out-of-school youth, including those with disabilities, in their Community Learning Centers. Depending on the strength of local government leadership, these learning centers may offer basic computer education or digital literacy courses. Davao City, for instance, offers basic computer literacy courses to youth with disabilities, out-of-school youth, indigent youth, and adult women who are part of the ten tribes living in the city.⁶³

In 2011, the ICT Office, in partnership with Telecenter.Org, the University of the Philippines, the Philippine CeC Network, Intel Philippines, telecommunication companies and other nongovernment organizations, launched the Philippine Digital Literacy for Women Campaign, a programme that offers free digital literacy training to women nationwide. The goal was to teach 10,000 women in marginalized areas on how to use computers and the Internet for enhancing their informational access, networking, and development of skills for socio-economic opportunities to improve their lives.⁶⁴

Despite these efforts, the implementation of digital literacy remains inadequate. Initiatives are still insufficient to enabling citizens to acquire capacities to find meaningful information and network in digital spaces relevant to their critical needs. Weak policy direction and leadership in relation to the appreciation and use of ICTs aside, governmental focus has been mainly on providing or procuring hardware and digital devices.