THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
'04 RUG -4 P3 :I 9 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article II, Section 17, provides: 
The State shall give priority to education, science and technology, arts, 
culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, 
and promote total human liberation and development. 
In 1994, the US Congress and the Department of Education collaborated to make a long- 
term, meaningful, and public investment in the principle that high-quality pre-school television 
programming will help children be ready to learn by the time children entered first grade. 
The Ready-to-Learn Television Program through Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and 
local public television stations has proven to be extremely cost-effective national response to 
improving'early childhood development and helping parents, caregivers, and professional child 
care providers learn how to use television as a means to help children learn, develop, and play 
creatively. 
Independent research shows that parents who participate in Ready-To-Learn workshops 
are more critical consumers of television and their children are more active viewers. A 
University oPAlabama%udy 
showed that parents who have attended a Ready-To-Learn 
workshop read more books and stories to their children and read more minutes each time than 
non-attendees. The parents did more hands-on activities related to reading with their children. 
The parents engaged in more word activities and for more minutes each time. The parents read 
less for entertainment and more for education. The parents took their children to libraries and 
bookstores more than non-attendees. 
Further, s ix ( 6 )  rn onths after p articipating i n R eady-To-Learn workshops, parents who 
attended generally had set ndes for television viewing by their children. These rules related to 
the amount of time the children were allowed to watch television daily, the hours t e children 
were allowed to watch television, and the tasks or chores the children must have acc mplished 
before the children were allowed to watch television. 
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Hence, this hill seeks to incorporate ready-to-learn television programming in t e country 
by forging partnership between the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports and eligible 
television and broadcasting entities in order to develop, produce, and distribute educational and 
instructional video programming for preschool and elementary school children and their parents. 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPWES 
1 
‘04 &I& -4 P3 .I9 
Fiist Regular Session 
1 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO PROVIDE FOR DIGITAL EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. -This Act shall be known as the “Digital Education Act.” 
SECTION 2. Ready-.To-Learn digital television. - 
(1) IN GENERAL - The Secretary of Education is authorized to award grants to, 
or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, eligible television and broadcasting 
entities to develop, produce, and distribute educational and instructional video programming for 
pre-school and elementary school children and their parents, patterned after the Ready-To-Learn 
television program in the United States. 
(2) AVAILABILITY - In making such grants, contracts, or cooperative 
agreements, &e. Secretary-shall ensure-that eligible entities make programming widely available, 
with support materials as appropriate, to young children, their parents, and childcare workers. 
SECTION 3. Educational programming. - 
(1) AWARDS - The Secretary shall award grants, contracts, cooperative 
(A) facilitate the development directly, or 
producers of children and family educational television 
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agreements to eligible entities to - 
(i) educational programming for pre-school and elementary school 
children: and 


(ii) accompanying support materials and services that promote the 
effective use of such programming; 
(B)- 
facilitate the development of programming and digital content 
especially designed for nationwide distribution over public television stations’ 
digital broadcasting channels and Internet, containing Ready-to-Learn-based 
children’s programming and resources for parents and caregivers; and 
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(C) enable eligible entities to contract with entities (such as public 
telecommunications entities) so that programs developed under this ection are 
disseminated and distributed - 
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(i) to the widest possible audience appropriate to be se ed by the 
programming; and 
(ii) by the most appropriate distribution technologies. 
(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES - To be eligible to receive a grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement under subsection (I), an entity shall be - 
(A)a public telecommunications entity that is able to demonstrate a 
capacity for development a capacity for the development and national distribution 
of educational and instructional television programming of high quality for 
preschool and elementary school children; and 
(B)able to demonstrate a capacity to contract with the producers of 
children’s television programming for the purpose of developing educational 
television programming of high quality for preschool and elementary school 
children 
(3) C ULTURAL EXPERIENCES - P rogramming d eveloped under this s ection 
shall reflect the recognition of diverse cultural experiences and the needs and experiences of bath 
boys and girls in engaging and preparing young children for schooling. 
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SECTION 4. Duties of the Secreiary. ~ 
(1) To award grants, 
agreements to eligible entities, local public television stations, or 
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of demonstrated effectiveness, for the purpose of- 


interactions; and 
(ii) support materials to promote the effective use of 
SECTION 5. Application. - Each entity desiring a grant, contract, or cooperative 
agreement shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
accompanied by such information as the secretary may reasonable require 
.. materials 
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SECTION 6. Reports and evali~ntions. - 
(1) ANNUAL REPORT TO SECRETARY - An eligible entity receiving funds 
under this Act shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual report which contains such 


information as the Secretary may require. At a minimum, the report shall describe the program 
activities undertaken with funds received, including - 
(A) the programming that has been developed directly or indirectly by the 
eligible entity, and the target population of the programs developed; 
(B) the support materials that have been developed to accompany the 
programming, and the method by which such materials are distributed to 
consumers and users of the programming; 
(C) the means by which the programming developed under this section has 
been distributed, including the distance learning technologies that have been 
utilized to inalce programming available and the geographic distribution achieved 
through such technologies; and 
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(D) the initiatives undertaken by eligible entity to develop public-private 
partnership to secure support for the development, distribution and br adcast of 
educational and instructional programming. 
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS - The Secretary shall prepare and sub 'it to the 1 
relevant committees of Congress a biannual report which includes - 
(A)a summary of activities assisted; and 
(B) a description of the training materials made available, the manner in 
which outreach has been conducted to inform parents and childcare providers of 
the availability of such materials, and the manner in which such materials have 
been distributed in accordance with such section. 
SECTION 7. Funding. - There are authorized such sums as may be necessary to carry 
out the provisions of this Act. 
SECTION 8. Sepnvubility Clause. - If any provisions, or part hereof, is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision shall remain valid and subsisting. 
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SECTION 9 ,  R epealing Clause. - Any 1 aw, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulations contrary to or inconsistent 
with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 10. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
12015 RPC