FOR THE STUDENTS | The InqSkwela partnership with Manila is sealed on Feb. 28 by Vice Mayor John Marvin “Yul” Nieto (second from left) and Superintendent Maria Magdalena Lim of the Department of Education-Division of Schools Manila. Signing the agreement for the Inquirer are
the newspaper’s national sales manager Roy Raul Mendiola and Inquirer Foundation vice president Raymund Soberano. (EUGENE ARANETA)
MANILA, Philippines — Twenty public schools in the City of Manila will now have access to Inquirer Plus, the digital edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), under a partnership that offers the paper not only as a reliable source of news and information but also as an educational material that can help hone learning skills and enrich classroom discourse.
The fourth and latest “InqSkwela” project was formally launched on Feb. 28 with the signing of a memorandum of agreement between PDI and the local government.
Under the agreement, the digital newspaper will serve as a supplemental learning aid for teachers of Araling Panlipunan (social studies), English and journalism. The 20 participating schools will have daily access to Inquirer Plus through their respective education websites and a dedicated Facebook page for students created by the student councils of each school.
Earlier partners
At the end of the school year, an interschool quiz bee and debate tournament based on published Inquirer content will be conducted as culminating activities for the social studies and English classes.
InqSkwela was launched in 2019 with four highly populated schools in Metro Manila serving as its pilot areas, namely Ramon Magsaysay High School, Batasan Hills National High School, Fort Bonifacio High School, and CAA Elementary School.
In 2022, Inquirer Foundation found a new InqSkwela partner in the Valenzuela City government under then-Mayor Rex Gatchalian.
This January, InqSkwela reached Victorias City, Negros Occidental, where 19 schools were covered by the initiative.
For the Manila partnership, Vice Mayor John Marvin “Yul” Nieto signed on behalf of the local government, while representing the Inquirer Foundation were vice president Raymund Soberano, PDI national sales manager Roy Raul Mendiola, and senior business development officer Akiko Quijano.
In his remarks during the MOA signing, Nieto said his office would be glad to serve as the link between Manileños and members of the private sector who would like to help the city through their various advocacy projects.
Under the partnership, the Inquirer Foundation will also be supporting the art exhibits of Nieto, the actor also known as Yul Servo and who is also a visual artist, where part of the proceeds will be donated to InqSkwela program. (Nieto held his first solo exhibit—featuring sculpture made from scrap metal—on Feb. 12 at the Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo City.)
Also present at the MOA signing was Maria Magdalena Lim, superintendent of the Department of Education-Division of Schools Manila.
Media literacy
According to Inquirer Foundation executive director Connie Kalagayan, InqSkwela was conceived in response to the 2018 findings of the Programme for International Student Assessment where the Philippines scored the lowest in reading comprehension out of the 79 countries evaluated.
By making the newspaper available to schools as a supplemental learning material for junior and senior high school classes, the project hopes to help improve their students’ reading skills, critical thinking, media literacy and general understanding of current events.
Based on the report of the principals and superintendents of the participating schools, Kalagayan said, the students have shown remarkable improvement in their reading comprehension and other skills where the digital paper served as teaching aid.
“Most of the kids who joined the quiz bees and debates became more confident, so aside from the improved learning skills the boost in their confidence was a testament to the success of the program,” she added.