KCFI President Speaks at Pinoy Media Congress
BY MICHAEL RAMOS | April 10, 2019
Aligning to the commitment to help educate the country’s future communicators, Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) has teamed up with the Philippine Association for Communication Educators (PACE) and ABS-CBN by hosting the highly anticipated Class Project Student Documentary Competition and delivering a session on how media can be used for social good during the 13th Pinoy Media Congress held last March 7-8, 2019 at the College of the Holy Spirit in Manila.
The top 3 out of 10 finalist documentaries were awarded in a ceremony held last March 8. University of the Philippines – Diliman took home the top prize with “Pasan” while Lyceum of the Philippines University – Laguna snatched second with “Silang Walang Daan” and Far Eastern University picked up third spot with “Labay Ku”. The Top 10 Documentaries will be aired on Knowledge Channel starting April 5.
President and Executive Director Rina Lopez Bautista also presented how KCFI harnessed the power of media and technology in helping uplift the quality of education in the country. Bautista narrated the journey of delivering satellite dishes and television sets to remote areas in the Philippines as far as Itbayat Batanes and Sitangkay, Tawi-Tawi.
She also emphasized that KCFI continues to evolve and tap the latest technology and communications in order to meet the needs of today’s generation of children. “So while we used to provide the Knowledge Channel through cable or through satellite dish, now it [is being] provided with ABS-CBN TV Plus, SKY Cable, SKY Direct and soon, Knowledge TV,” said Bautista. Knowledge Channel’s content is also available online via www.knowledgechannel.org and on its official YouTube Channel.
There was also a Q&A that followed the presentation where Bautista was also asked if KCFI had plans to revive well-loved educational shows in the 90’s. “We still air Mathtinik, Sineskwela, Bayani, Hirayamanawari on the Knowledge Channel but we’re also creating new programs that are much more in tune with the kids today,” she said. “We had MathTinik before and now we have MathDali,” she adds. “We’re creating these videos but we’re doing it little by little.”
When asked if there will be any interventions for Marawi, Bautista responded that KCFI may bring in Psychological First Aid, a set of videos used as an intervention for those communities affected by Typhoon Haiyan. “We will be going to some schools in Marawi and bringing in our videos but also our videos on Psychological First Aid, with four excellent videos on dealing with trauma and training of teachers,” Bautista said. “We must work with the teachers first and then be trained so they can administer the Psychological First Aid to the community.”
Media for Social Good. KCFI President and Executive Director Rina Lopez Bautista discusses how Knowledge Channel has helped education through the years using media and technology. (Photo by Azrael Gonzales)