A mobile classroom will soon roam around the remote villages of Gerona, Tarlac province to reach out to learners, particularly those enrolled in the Alternative Learning System (ALS) program.
Dubbed “G-iRIDE: Gerona Innovative Roving Interactive Instructional Materials for Diverse Educational Needs”, it is the first mobile classroom in Central Luzon designed to serve ALS learners.
The project is a collaboration of the municipality of Gerona, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Education-Tarlac and Tarlac State University (TSU).
DOST-Tarlac Provincial Director Karen Danez said in a statement on Wednesday that some 500 ALS learners in Gerona town are set to benefit from the mobile classroom, which is a repurposed ambulance.
She said TSU Solar Center Director Bryan Christopher Sico remodeled the town’s old ambulance, finishing it in two months.
The TSU provided the technical design and specifications of the mobile classroom.
The university also provided the aesthetic design and logo design of G-iRIDE as well as the workforce and fabrication of the mobile classroom.
“Ito po ay una rin sa region na naka-design ‘yung sasakyan, naka-install ‘yung TV and it’s solar powered, kaya kahit walang kuryente sa remote area, walang internet, hindi kailangan ng internet (This is also the first in the region that that the vehicle was designed with TV installation and it’s solar powered, thus, even without electric power supply in a remote area, no internet, there is no need for internet) because it can run offline. Since it is data-based, it can also be accessed through a router provided,” Danez said.
The G-iRIDE features a 50-inch solar-powered television, which is shock-proof and waterproof. It also has speakers and a mini library where learners and teachers can access their modules.
Likewise, it is equipped with the Interactive Multimedia Teaching Aid (IMTA) that can screen presentations, videos, and other lessons.
Danez said they will also install the DOST Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly-Operated Kiosk Stations (STARBOOKS) software, an offline digital library that teachers can access.
DepEd-Tarlac ALS Education Program Supervisor Helen Bose said the mobile classroom will initially roam around the remote village of Don Basilio to address the increasing number of out-of-school youth in the area.
Bose said they reached out to DOST-Tarlac and Gerona LGU to aid them with regard to their difficulties in reaching out to learners in remote areas.
“This is the very first. An invention with good intention,” she noted.
Gerona town Mayor Eloy Eclar said he hopes the other towns in Tarlac would adopt their project to reach out and make education more accessible.
Meanwhile, DOST Regional Director Dr. Julius Caesar Sicat said the G-iRIDE will be displayed in the Regional Science and Technology Innovation Week in Botolan, Zambales from Oct. 18-20. (PNA)
