Philippines

When examining the potential for open and distance learning in the Philippines, it is important to consider the geographical challenges the country faces and its archipelagic characteristics that make monitoring and supervision of its schools difficult and expensive.

The Philippines lies in the south-eastern coast of Asia mainland. It is the second largest archipelago in the world with a land area approximately 3,000,000 square kilometers. It is bounded on the west by the South China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by Sulu and Celebes Seas, and on the north by Bashi Channel. The country is composed of 7,107 islands with three major islands namely: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines has the longest coastline in the world stretching to about 34,600 kilometers. It is divided into 16 administrative regions with 77 provinces and 60 cities; 1,544 municipalities; and 43,302 barangays (villages) (Department of Education, Culture and Sports, 1997, p. 4).

Like those in other countries in the Southeast Asian Region, the Filipinos belong to the Malay race. The indigenous culture is accented by Chinese, Japanese, Arable, Spanish, and American influences, reflecting almost four centuries of colonization. Eight major languages among a total of at least 70 recorded languages are spoken by more than 110 ethno linguistic aggrupations with Filipino as the national language. Both Filipino and English are, however, the official languages. Classroom instruction is conducted in both languages and in the first few years of elementary education, also in the local dialect. The use of English as medium of communication in and outside the school has been considered advantageous because this facilitates interaction with other countries (Department of Education, Culture and Sports, 1997, p. 4).

Technology which has been central to the life of the individual in highly industrialized regions includes the use of handy cameras, HF radio, whip aerials, videos, CDs, fax machines, PC using Pentium processors and other highly sophisticated mediums. Nowadays, with the emergence of various satellite systems in the Philippines, communications across other countries can be readily transmitted and retrieved.