On July 28, the Government of Japan and UNICEF Philippines handed over their jointly funded 400 educational tablets to learners in Eastern Visayas.

Embassy of Japan First Secretary Chihiro Kanno and UNICEF Philippines Chief of Education Isy Faingold represented their respective organizations in the handover event in Tacloban City.

The 400 educational tablets containing digital learning materials in select mother tongues of Eastern Visayas aims to help young learners develop their skills in early literacy.

This is included in the UNICEF-supported Learning Recovery Programme for Eastern Visayas, in cooperation with the Department of Education. The programme also covers development and administration of a Comprehensive Rapid Literacy Assessment (CRLA) tool in mother tongues, and capacity building of teachers on CRLA administration, interpretation, and early literacy strategies.

In view of this assistance, Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko underscores the importance of providing tablets to be effective in mitigating learning loss on children. He also assures that Japan will continue to provide a helping hand for the Philippines, and will further strengthen the strong ties between our countries.

The support of Japan in this program forms part of its US$ 2.5 million donation to UNICEF’s cross-sectoral COVID-19 response for protecting the most vulnerable children in the Philippines. Japan Information and Cultural Center