Aboitiz Group to help train teachers in digital tools

CEBU, Philippines — The Aboitiz Group has partnered with the Department of Education (DepEd) to help train 800,000 teachers in using digital tools for blended learning through Help Educators Rise to Online Education for School Year 2020-2021 (HEROES2021).

“Recognizing the value of education especially during these trying times, the Aboitiz Group continues to find new and innovative ways to empower students to keep learning, and our modern-day heroes, our teachers be able to adapt, in the face of new challenges,”  Sabin Aboitiz, Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer said in a statement.

HEROES2021 is a two-stage intensive training program aimed at rapidly building public school teachers’ capability for online teaching.

The Aboitiz Group said the program is its way of helping Filipino teachers and students ease into the new normal of learning amid the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

DepEd-7 Regional Director Salustiano Jimenez told The FREEMAN that the initiative is a “laudable move” of the Aboitiz Group.

Jimenez said DepEd-7 is still coordinating and collaborating with the various business units (BUs) of Aboitiz.

Aside from Aboitiz banking and financial services unit, the Union Bank of the Philippines and its subsidiary, City Savings Bank, the HEROES2021 program includes learning partners EduRescue Philippines, Akadasia Singapore, and Thames International.

The statement added that Microsoft-certified UnionBank team members have volunteered to design easy-to-understand web seminars (webinars) that complement HEROES2021 training modules.

Webinar topics include flexible learning, engaging online learning activities, measuring learning outcomes, and exploring a live online class.

UnionBank’s team member volunteers run at least three webinars a week, striving to reach more teachers in Visayas and Mindanao.

“By designing these support learning tools and scaling up delivery, UnionBank is introducing new ways of providing much-needed aid for our public school teachers so they may make learning easier via technology,” said Dave Devilles, UnionBank Vice President for Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility.

DepEd National Capital Region Director Malcolm Garma is hopeful HEROES2021 will boost the readiness of the public education sector to adapt to the new normal.

“We thank UnionBank and its subsidiary CitySavings for the HEROES2021 teacher training project. We all know that the use of printed modules for learning delivery is not sustainable in the long run given the costs and impact on the environment. Online learning is one of the solutions and now is the time to train our teachers,” Garma said in the same statement. — KQD (FREEMAN)