ABOUT THE PRESIDENT

“Relentless. This is Rina Lopez in one word.”

Belonging to the family of one of the most prominent business conglomerates in the country, she could have stayed within the confines of her comfort zone. She could have thrown in the towel when donations to her non-profit organization didn’t come in as expected. She could have refused to hand over the soft and hardware to the Department of Education’s CyberEd Education program which had decided to use her model of educational TV as its own. She could have retired and lived in relative peace when the ABS-CBN franchise was denied, forcibly removing her baby, the Knowledge Channel from the homes of 7 million students. But she did not.

The things we do in Knowledge Channel is not just work for me. Until I have the capabilities, I will continue to do so in the service of the Filipino people.
Rina Lopez

In 1999, Rina co-founded the first and only curriculum-based television channel in the country serving the public educational system – the Knowledge Channel. Twenty-two years later, the Knowledge Channel Foundation, its mother institution has evolved into the country’s premiere content delivery system of pre-school and K-12 learning materials produced for the most disadvantaged sector of the economy – school children enrolled in the public educational system.

Today, Knowledge Channel is in 17 regions, 73 provinces and more than 10,000 public schools and child learning centers impacting the lives of millions of students through its thousands video lessons in Math, Science, English, Filipino and Araling Panlipunan. These educational materials have leveled the learning field and democratized education, because the materials have been made available for teachers and students in highly urbanized settings as well as for those in the boondocks and hinter-islands.

The business of running an educational television channel is usually a function of the State; thus, the UK’s BBC, Japan’s NHK and the American Public Broadcasting System operate and/or fund their country’s respective educational channels. But because of Rina’s vision, the Philippines can stand proud because the Knowledge Channel is the first of its kind in the world and is in a class all its own; being a private effort for the public good.

Rina, who holds a Masters of Arts degree in Learning Technologies from Pepperdine University continues to educate herself whenever and however she can. She has won accolades from ex-President Bill Clinton and a number of local and international awards including an Achievement Award for Distance Learning from the De La Salle Alumni Association and a Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan or Public Service Award from the Ateneo de Manila University, among others.