Senator Win Gatchalian is calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to prioritize digital literacy programs in schools to produce digital-savvy graduates who will be equipped with the skills necessary to succeed in the modern world.
“Most job opportunities nowadays, especially in lucrative emerging fields, require significant digital know-how. We should nurture the digital communication and cognitive skills of the youth, because this will pave their way toward more promising careers,” said Gatchalian, the vice-chairman of the Senate Education Committee.
The legislator explained that digital literacy, which is defined as the capacity to evaluate, comprehend, and communicate information through digital or computer technology, “lies at the center of professional competence and economic productivity in the Digital Age we now live in.”
Employers in both the public and private sectors run operations which are increasingly reliant on technology and the Internet, thus establishing a direct link between digital literacy and employability.
In 2017, DepEd partnered with the private sector to conduct a pilot study on new learning techniques that could promote digital literacy in the country. The lawmaker said that this was a good starting point for DepEd to eventually refine the curricula observed in schools to include more in-depth digital literacy training.
Digital literacy can elevate the educational competencies of our students and economic competitiveness of our country.
“I believe digital literacy can elevate the educational competencies of our students and economic competitiveness of our country, but the key is to start them young. We need to institutionalize advanced digital literacy training in our schools from an early age,” the senator from Valenzuela said.