Supporting the digital shift

Distance learning is proving to be challenging as recent data shows that only 28 percent of Filipino students believe they are prepared for it.

What many students do not realize is that their teachers are experiencing a similar, if not greater, challenge in terms of keeping up with the digital shift.

As a teacher myself, I know for a fact how hard it is especially when we first shifted to online classes and had to learn to quickly prepare modules and other online teaching materials, how to conduct examinations online, and even how to conduct classes online using video conferencing platforms that have to be  mastered in a short span of time.

For some older teachers, the main challenge was how to learn using the computer and navigating through it. Our IT department had to even teach some professors the basics, including how to use Zoom or other video conferencing platforms, how to create and check examinations on Google forms and other online tools.

To address many of these challenges, Edukasyon.PH and ASUS have teamed up through the ASUS Edukasyon School Partner Program to provide local educators with the technology and training materials that they need for this online set up. Among others, it will provide school administrators and technicians with up-to-date technology and all-around support which would include cloud-based applications to address the need for collaborative teaching, and cybersecurity ware for keeping important records and student data safe.

According to Edukasyon.PH chief technology officer Rafi Quisumbing, by working closely with the IT departments of each school, they can equip the schools with the resources needed to effectively assist teachers and students through the digital shift.

For her part, Edukasyon.PH. CEO Grace David said that the program is about empowering their IT partners and schools to make sure they are  well-equipped in running the projects to be able to impact the entire ecosystem.

The program is set to bridge gaps in virtual learning through a holistic, tech-forward approach, with benefits that include an annual IT fund, learning seminars, internship opportunities, and exclusive discounts on ASUS products.

During a recent briefing, former DICT undersecretary Mon Ibrahim, who is presently president of the UP System Information Technology Foundation, pointed out that on top of juggling work with family duties, educators usually take on more administrative tasks and struggle with unfamiliar technology too. That is why they turn to their school IT departments, which have the training, to handle and troubleshoot tech problems. Ibrahim is also currently trustee of the Analytics Association of the Philippines and ASUS Philippines ambassador for education and digital transformation.

He said that with the pandemic, the program is very timely as the country’s digital divide has widened particularly in the rural areas.

Meanwhile, ASUS Philippines country manager George Su said that ASUS has always been a go-to brand for reliable gadgets for learning, both for Filipino students and teachers, adding that they have extended this year their long-term support to the entire education ecosystem with technology that improves productivity and learning outcomes while keeping IT management costs low.

Legal question

For more than a year now, a leading business hotel in Batangas has been trying to collect from the local subsidiary of a pharmaceutical company around P9.3 million in unpaid debts.

According to the hotel’s lawyers, who belong to one of the country’s biggest law firm, the pharma company made reservations for seven days and six nights for around 450 people with the hotel for the firm’s week-long national sales conference scheduled January last year. The reservation covered 736 guaranteed room-nights and taking up about 90 percent of the hotel’s available rooms for that week. The company  paid the 50 percent downpayment required.

The hotel prepared the rooms, facilities, food, beverage, and other supplies, even advancing the cost of purchasing the ingredients and refreshments to ensure timely preparation of some 8,000 meals that would be needed.

Based on the complaint-affidavit filed with the Department of Justice, on the first day of the conference, around 400 guests and participants arrived and checked in. Unfortunately, around 2 p.m. of the same day, Taal Volcano erupted, but the ashfall did not reach the hotel area. In fact, the guests even opted to dine outdoors that night. The following day, the hotel experienced some ash fall, but the hotel management claims it required only a quick cleaning of the outdoor facilities.

On the third day of the event, the pharma company informed the hotel of its decision to cancel the event and it moved the conference and all the guests and participants to another hotel in Alabang. According to the pharma firm, despite the hotel’s warranty that the area was not within the danger zone, the eruption was imminent and caused health problems to the guests and participants. For its part, the Batangas hotel claims that the premises of the Alabang hotel were also affected by the ashfall since the wind was blowing northward to Metro Manila.

The contract between the hotel and the pharma company provides that the only exception to paying the full contract price was cancellation of the event at least seven days prior.

Despite repeated demands, the pharma firm refused to pay the balance and so the hotel opted to file an estafa complaint with the DOJ.

Is the eruption force majeure or a fortuitous event that would justify the pharma company’s action? According to the law firm, the obligation is what is termed as generic and as a rule, the happening of a fortuitous event does not extinguish it. In fact, it said, the liability of the firm to pay the full contract price already arose even before the occurrence of the supposed fortuitous event.

For its part, the pharma company claims it had to assure the safety of the event’s guests and participants.

Let’s see how the DOJ will decide this legal controversy.

For comments, e-mail at [email protected]