ON July 28, the government of Japan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef)-Philippines handed over their jointly funded 400 educational tablets to learners in Eastern Visayas, or Region 8.
The educational tablets containing digital learning materials in select mother tongues of Eastern Visayas aim to help young learners develop their skills in early literacy. The initiative is included in the Unicef-supported Learning Recovery Programme for Region 8, in cooperation with the Department of Education.
The program also covers development and administration of a Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment tool in mother tongues, and capacity building of teachers on CRLA administration, interpretation, and early literacy strategies.
In view of this assistance, Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa underscored the importance of providing tablets as effective in mitigating learning loss in children. He also assures that Japan will continue to provide a helping hand for the Philippines, and will further strengthen the strong ties between both countries.
The support of Japan in this program forms part of its $2.5-million donation to Unicef’s cross-sectoral Covid-19 response for protecting the most vulnerable children in the Philippines.
The Embassy of Japan’s First Secretary Chihiro Kanno and Unicef-Philippines Chief of Education Isy Faingold represented their respective organizations in the handover event in Tacloban City.
Image credits: Japanese Embassy