Public elementary schools in two islands and an upland village in Sagay City, Negros Occidental, got a learning boost through the computerized information kiosks or electronic (e)-libraries of the Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated Kiosk or Starbooks project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Sagay City Mayor Narciso Javelosa Jr. on Friday, January 19, said he welcomed the opportunity for the schoolchildren to embrace the learning technology.
“We hope this will help them in their endeavors in doing their science-related projects and activities,” he said.
Councilor Perfecto Marañon represented Javelosa during the turn-over rites on Thursday at the Department of Education-Schools Division Office of Sagay City.
In Sagay City, the DOST is implementing the Starbooks project, which seeks to benefit geographically isolated and economically challenged communities in cooperation with the Satoca Agrarian Reform Cooperative.
The recipients include the island schools of Matabas Elementary School, Molocaboc II Elementary School and Molocaboc Integrated School located in Molocaboc Island, plus the Suyac Elementary School in the mangrove island of Suyac.
Another recipient is the upland Manara Elementary School, with learners mostly from the Ata community in Barangay Puey.
In a separate statement, Schools Division Superintendent Marsette Sabbalucca said the e-libraries will infuse technology into classes and instructions in these remote schools.
Starbooks are stand-alone computerized information kiosks or offline digital libraries, providing students and faculty access to science and technology information resources in specifically designed “pods” in a user-friendly interface.
Each Starbooks contains hundreds of thousands of digitized science and technology resources in various formats like text, audio and video, where an individual can print the information right at the kiosks.*PNA