PALO, Leyte — The regional offices of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), the Department of Education and the BPI Foundation led the ceremonial handover on Thursday of the Starbooks kiosk to Eastern Visayas' (Region 8) six school beneficiaries.
Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla stated in her opening remarks that it is essential for pupils to learn in the early stages through digitalization because they are living in a world of innovative technologies.
"The endeavor aligns with Leyte Gov. Jericho Petilla's advancement of digitization as a cornerstone to keeping relevant and competitive in any organization," Petilla said.
"It is crucial that our children learn about it from an early age, as it is already a trend," she added.
The six school beneficiaries are Luntad Elementary School, Pulang Yuta Elementary School, Hanginan Elementary School, Cuyting Uy National High School, Eugenio S. Daza Pilot Elementary School and Galutan National High School.
The Science and Technology Information Institute under DoST developed Starbooks, which stands for Science and Technology Academic and Research-based Openly Operated Kiosk System.
It is referred to as the Philippines' first science and technology digital library, as well as a stand-alone information source aimed at bringing science and technology information to the grassroots.
The technology seeks to deliver science- and technology-based educational and learning resources in a variety of formats to geographically dispersed schools, local government units and line agencies across the country.
Furthermore, it aims to improve the educational competency of students at the beneficiary schools.
Starbooks includes the following resources: DoSTkarte Livelihood Videos, Interactive Science and Math Courseware, Disaster Mitigation, DoST Technologies, Educational Videos, DoST Publications, Library Materials, Philippine Men and Women of Science, and Region 8 Interactive Information.
"I believe that despite the problem of having one kiosk for one school, there would be a system of scheduling," Petilla told The Manila Times.
"I encourage the students of the school beneficiaries of DoST Starbooks to use the kiosk because it will benefit their studies," she ended.