ICT in Education: Exclusion or inclusion of marginalized societies in ICT-based learning provisions Proponent: Marife D.

Carpio The emphasis on education for development is not surprising. Education has been, and continues to be, the most powerful agent of change. Thus, there is global recognition of education as a basic human right and social responsibility. We still live in a world of great inequality. Much of humanity continues to be denied access to an equal share of the planets wealth, to justice, and to a decent living. The disparity between those who have and those who do not in terms of food, health- care, education, and social security continues to be appalling. The inequalities are not just between rich and poor nations but also within nations and communities. The elimination of these inequalities is a global aspiration expressed through the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The first of the eight goals is the eradication of poverty and three others have to do with improving health (i.e. reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases). The seventh goal is ensuring environmental sustainability, and the eighth is developing a global partnership for development. The second and third goals are related to education: achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equality and empowering women specifically through the elimination of gender disparity at all levels of education. The huge demand for initial, continuing and lifelong education has placed education systems at a crisis point (Daniel 1996). The need to expand access, ensure quality, and respond to a diversity of learning needs at a time of diminishing resources presents difficult choices for governments. In confronting these choices, nations, and institutions in the Asia Pacific need to re- examine traditions of schooling, teaching, and learning. Because of the established relationship between illiteracy and poverty, achieving the goals of the UN Literacy Decade is central to the realization of the MDGs. Official reports on the status of Philippine education show that roughly six out of ten young people who are supposed to be in high school have the opportunity of receiving formal education while the others are either working or are simply being idle. Due to various reasons, more and more students are dropping out and performing poorly in schools which does not bode well for the future of this country. In response to this, the DepEd Bureau of Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education (BALS) has been mandated by virtue of Executive Order No. 356 (September 14, 2004), to protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality basic education and to promote the right of all citizens to quality basic education and such education accessible to all by providing all Filipino children in the elementary level and free education in the high school level. Such education shall also include alternative learning system for out-of school youth and adult learners. (Section 2 of PA. 9155, The Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001). The BALS in coordination with several agencies have been promoting and implementing community-based programs to address the problems in education. Alongside this is the goal of reducing, if not to totally eliminating the digital divide by providing interested learners with basic skills and capacities on being ICT literate to be able to compete globally. In recent years, the Philippine government has become active and decisive in pursuing the goal of ensuring basic education for all and lifelong learning. Measures are being undertaken to address these concerns - wider use of computers to support teaching-learning processes, promotion of elearning and information literacy, and establishment of e-learning competency centers (NEDA, 2004), to name a few. This paper shall then aim at finding out the status of achievements with regards to the implementation of the Education for All objective, with focus on the use of ICT or diminishing the

digital divide as it impacts the marginalized sectors of the society. More specifically, it shall cover the following topics/themes: 1. Education for All in the digital age a) Educational system and status (summary brief) b) Policy considerations for digital/e-learning c) ICT in Non-formal and formal education d) Current priorities (and the digital environment) 2. Capacity building for ICT integration in education 3. Approaches to ICT in education and best practices 4. Achievements, learnings and issues The paper shall make use of a variety of literature to come up with a comprehensive view of the proposed scope of study. References and resources may be from journal articles, books, news clips, magazine articles and online documents.