Sen. Gatchalian proposes Philippine Online Library Act

Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recently proposed Senate Bill No. 477 or the Philippine Online Library Act. This bill proposes the creation of a Philippine Online Library that houses free educational materials that Filipino students and teachers can access online.

In the proposed bill, the Department of Education will be tasked to create digital copies of textbooks and reference materials; to be compiled in an online library to be managed by DepEd and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

This bill "aims to establish the Philippine Online Library which will emerge as a vital pathway to high-quality e-books and educational content as it will be the repositoiy of the digitized copy of all textbooks and reference materials necessary for the public education of our elementary and secondary learners. It envisions an entire online library of essential reading materials easily accessible to all learners for free and without disruption."

Sen. Gatchalian is currently the chair of Committee on Basic Education. He saw the need for an online library that students and teachers can access remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic and learning was done mostly through modules.

According to the senator, that through the the Philippine Online Library, "We can ensure that learners and teachers will have access to a greater number of books. This way, education continues even if there are calamities or disasters."

He further added, "By making libraries pandemic-proof, learners can access a broader range of textbooks and materials, while teachers can reach out to marginalized learners."

The bill is currently pending and was filed last July 13, 2022.

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Sources:
Online library to secure learning materials. (2022 November 19). https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1188974
Senate Bill No. 477: Link

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