In commemoration of Safer Internet Day Philippines 2023, the Learner Rights and Protection Office (LRPO) of the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) has released an online course to assist school-based Child Protection Committees (CPCs) in doing their duties more effectively.
Sara Z. Duterte, the Vice President and Secretary of Education, praised the LRPO for doing what it was supposed to do, which was to help learner victims quickly and support the Department’s current intervention and care coordination systems.
The vice president said that they are very sure that it is important to both protect students from the dangers of the internet and give them access to digital tools that allow them to fully exercise their civil, political, economic, and social rights.
The e-learning course has at least five hours of video lessons that are broken up into 15- to 30-minute discussions of important topics. It can be found at https://www.deped.gov.ph/e-learning-courses/.
It was made to help participants understand more about and be more aware of the different child protection issues that learners might face. It was also made to help participants become more familiar with and aware of the different DepEd policies and issuances that have to do with child protection.
Suzette Gannaban-Medina, Officer-in-Charge of the LRPO stated that they hope that this e-learning course will benefit regional office focal individuals, school division office focal persons, and school Child Committee Protection members across the country.
Also, the asynchronous training intends to clarify the roles and responsibilities of school-based CPCs and increase their understanding of how to manage child protection problems. Late last year, 146 CPC members from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao completed the course in a pilot run.
E-learning has emerged as a valuable instrument for strengthening child safety initiatives in the Philippines. E-learning platforms are an effective approach to reaching out to and educating a wide range of stakeholders, including parents, carers, teachers, and social workers, about the importance of child protection.
One of the primary benefits of e-learning is the flexibility it provides in terms of time and location. This is especially significant in the Philippines, where many villages are in distant or difficult-to-reach places. E-learning allows these communities to receive training and educational resources without having to travel.
Another advantage of e-learning is that it can be tailored to the demands of various audiences. E-learning programmes, for example, can be built expressly for parents or social workers, with content customised to their individual roles and responsibilities in child protection.
Online education has been utilised in the Philippines to inform stakeholders on a variety of child protection concerns, including child abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. Citizens can learn about the signs and symptoms of abuse, how to report suspected cases, and how to support victims through e-learning.
It has also been used to educate social workers on how to handle incidents of child abuse and exploitation. Social workers can learn at their own speed and refresh the content as needed by delivering training online.
E-learning can help to boost child protection efforts in the nation by educating and training a diverse group of stakeholders. It can assist prevent child abuse and exploitation by increasing knowledge and understanding of child protection concerns, as well as giving better support to victims.