ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 6 Oct) – To better serve its students during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Iligan City National High School (ICNHS) has put up its own FM radio station to support its distance learning program.
Rex Razo (right), principal of the Iligan City National High School, observes the test broadcast of his school’s newly builty FM radio station on Monday (5 Otober 2020), World Teachers Day. A joint project of the Parent Teachers Association and the ICNHS, the radio station will help the school in its distance learning program. MindaNews photo by RICHEL V. UMEL
Rex Razo, ICNHS principal, told MindaNews Monday that the 400-watt frequency modulated radio station, which cost P400,000 to build, is a partnership between the Parent Teachers Association and the ICNHS, with technical support from 95.1 Brigada News FM Iligan.
Razo said that in his almost 40 years of service with the Department of Education, this is the first time that there will be no face-to-face classes “where students do not go to school but learn while they stay at home.”
“But it is a challenge we can overcome effectively even though it is new to us,” the principal assured. “With all the preparation, all the experience coupled with passion, dedication and commitment, we believe we can overcome this challenge to deliver effective instructions,” he added.
Razo said it took a while to install the radio station because of the quarantines, with the contractor sometimes getting delayed in coming here because of the restrictions in travel.
Fortunately, Melvin Anggot, manager of 95.1 Brigada News FM Iligan, assisted pro bono in facilitating the contractor and some other technical concerns in setting up the station, the principal said.
Razo said they still have to raise the antenna some more to reach more students in the hinterlands.
Heading the ICNHS’s radio station team is Melvin Magsayo, a science teacher, who was trained on broadcasting in the central office of the Department of Education last year. Assisting him are four other teachers, who have been taking advising students in the broadcast competition during the DepEd-organized schools press conferences.
The radio broadcast, Razo said, supplements the modular modality of learning for some subjects.
ICNHS has 310 teachers serving 8,000 students, including senior high school. (Richel V. Umel / MindaNews)
