Located in a remote area in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Shariff Kabunsuan province in North Cotabato, the school, where students wear varied uniforms and nearly worn out rubber slippers, is a microcosm of the country’s education sector.

The insufficient school supplies has always been the problem of every public school in the country, and, most especially the provincial schools in remote areas.

"When it comes to supplies, it’s really not enough especially when we talk about books, which is a big problem here. Since there is an increase in our student population this year, the supplies become more insufficient," Bayon relates.

But for a school, which lacks the much-needed supplies for proper education posting a significant increase in students’ academic performance and enjoying a continuous decline in student dropouts is a big surprise. Considering too that most schools like this have more students dropping out than finishing secondary education and the poor learning conditions students experience.

The school has a total of 383 students, nine teachers, 11 classrooms, a small sari-sari store for a canteen, a 29-inch TV set, a digital receiver and a satellite dish. The latter three are the main reason why this school improved in more ways than one.

A private school here in Manila can provide the most technologically advanced equipment for their students. But for a public school that relies on an annual budget given by the government could only do so much.

But Awang Elementary School and some other schools in Mindanao received more than quarter-of-a-million-peso worth of infrastructure for education development. The Television Education for the Advancement of Muslim Mindanao (TEAM-Mindanao) project, a joint venture of Knowledge Channel (KCh) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have already installed infrastructures to 150 schools in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.

"It’s a big difference from watching ordinary shows, because of the channel, the learning conditions changed. The student dropouts decreased and on the part of the teachers, it enhanced their teaching skills and lightened their work in preparing lessons," Bayon says.

"We are very thankful for Knowledge Channel for this program, it helped us a lot," he adds.

The TEAM-Mindanao project has been reaching out to public schools in the remote areas of Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Regions 9 and 12 and providing education infrastructures for 3 years now. KCh and USAID are making sure that these schools gain access to quality educational TV programs.

So far, KCh is providing some 78,529 students in 31 municipalities in the most remote and isolated areas of Mindanao with basic educational programs based on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) curriculum. The project completed its 150th and last infrastructure in San Isidro Elementary School in Midsayap, North Cotabato.

Through cable and satellite technology, KCh streams in TV programs that provide teachers with audio-video material in basic competencies in Math, English and Science. Since the project started, a significant increase in students’ academic performance has been recorded.

"The program has a big impact to students’ academic performance but this can be achieved if the program is watched on a regular basis because the program is based on DepEd’s curriculum," says TEAM-Mindanao Project Director Doris Nuval.

In the Division Achievement Tests (DAT) the Zamboanga Sibugay School Division, all of the 15 beneficiary schools posted significant increases across all subject areas. Two of the most significant schools are the Habib Moin Anduhol Elementary School that posted an increase in its Mean Percentage Score (MPS), rising from 25th place (43.03%) in 2005-2006 to 7th place (61.34%) in the 2006-2007 in teh said Division. On the other hand Bankerohan Elementary School also showed an increase in its MPS and rose from 27th place (50.35%) in 2005-2006 to first place (68%) in 2006-2007.

"We don’t believe in just installing the infrastructure, then we’re going to back off. No. We train the teachers on how to use television as a medium of instruction," Nuval relates.

"We do not only give a 29-inch TV set per school but we have what’s called an ETV coordinator who gets all the teachers together to choose which schedule they want," she adds.

As part of the project, KCh's ETV coordinators do evaluation and outcome assessment in every school to monitor the students and teachers improvements.

Provincial schools always lag behind schools in Metro Manila and there are many factors contributing to this, such as materials insufficiency and teachers’ competencies.

Knowledge Channel believes that this problem need to be addressed and that‘s why they are reaching out to the far-flung communities around the country to equalize learning opportunities among the Filipino youth. The TEAM-Mindanao project is one solution to this objective.

"The same program seen by our Makati public school students are the same program seen by our students in Tawi-tawi or Batanes. We equalize teaching and learning opportunities because the programs are exactly the same that’s why we tell the teachers in the rural areas that you don’t have the reason to lag behind," Nuval explains.

Also according to Nuval, there are teachers in remote areas such as Basilan, that recorded a grade five competency level or even lower. "The impact of this program is more on the remote areas and we purposely go to the remote areas."

"We’re content providers, we help both students and teachers. We always tell the teachers that you have to be watching along with the students to process the discussion," she adds.

KCh also provides a program schedule that provides the necessary guide for teachers. The Channel Guide provides information on each episode’s availability for viewing and when will these be aired. This information is useful for teachers when they integrate these episodes in their lesson plans.

"The episodes of the program are shown several times a week so if students don’t understand it for the first time, they could go back and watch the same episode when it will be shown again," Nuval explains.

The Department of Education also admits that there are still numerous problems the education sector faces, from the physical aspect to the poor performance of students to the alarming rates of student dropouts.

"DepEd faces numerous challenges in addressing the needs of our schools and those issues are more prevalent in this area of the country (Mindanao). That’s why we intend to spend more money in projects such as cyber education," says DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus.

"We want to give access to quality education in schools across the country," he adds.

This is also the goal of USAID in the country specifically in Mindanao, showing the importance of education to the future of the Philippines. Partnering with organizations such as the KCh is one step further to their goal.

"One of my impressions here, and the power of partnerships, there are so many partners to help improve education here in Mindanao. No one can do this alone," says USAID/Philippines Mission Director Jon Lindborg.

In addition, Linborg believes that as long as there are dedicated teachers and partners who are committed, there is a bright future for Mindanao’s youth. "Partners plus commitment, equals hope. I come to this trip with a sense of hope that there is a bright future here and I think it is possible because there are so many potentials here. We stay committed for peace and development here in Mindanao," he adds.

Technology is undoubtedly the future of education and in order not to be left behind by other countries government and private organizations are working hand-in-hand for a better future of Philippine education. Educational TV programs have proved its efficiency, that's just the start.