Starbooks helps Leyte recover

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) continues to deploy more of its Starbooks units in public schools all over the country to promote S&T knowledge and research among Filipino schoolchildren especially in far-flung areas.

Starbooks stands for Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosk Station.

The latest beneficiary of the DOST’s Starbooks distribution program in schools was Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) in Sogod to serve school children in Bontoc, San Juan, Hinunangan, and Tomas Oppus towns.

Developed by the DOST – Science and Technology Information Institution, Starbooks is a one-stop-shop for S&T information that can be accessed without the Internet.

The digital library gives students and other interested individuals access to a wealth of information materials including books, journals, theses, dissertation, encyclopedia, and even livelihood videos that offer income opportunities.

Last year, Encyclopedia Britannica was integrated in the Starbooks content to broaden its user base to include elementary and high school students.

“We are helping our fellows in Eastern Visayas to get back on their feet by providing technologies that are locally developed to support the continuous delivery of education especially during this stage of recovery,” Science Secretary Mario Montejo said.

Meanwhile, SLSU vice president Lorelie Duarte said that Starbooks will help the students greatly since they can access quality full text references and other research materials that are relevant to their courses. SLSU offers four engineering courses and graduate studies in Mathematics.

This is the second round of Starbooks installations after more than 40 units were set up in 2012. Consequently, the units were destroyed during Typhoon Yolanda the following year, with losses worth P48.79 billion of infrastructure including schools and libraries.

“We understand that many reference materials were destroyed during the two typhoons in the last two years and we cannot do anything about that anymore,” said DOST Assistant Secretary Raymund Liboro. “But what we can do is to find solutions to these problems and keep our youth continuously pursuing their studies.”

Southern Leyte is one of the most typhoon-visited provinces in the country. A number of typhoons pass through the province, causing millions of pesos worth of damage and disrupting classes during the monsoon season.