The Department of Education (DepEd) said on Friday that 1.5 million learners, teachers, and parents will benefit from its newly launched artificial intelligence (AI) program this year, which aims to educate and train Filipinos on the emerging technology.
鈥淩ight now, only 1.5 million are affected,鈥 Education Secretary Juan Edgardo 鈥淪onny鈥 M. Angara聽told reporters in an interview.
鈥淥nce we finish our curriculum, hopefully by the second quarter鈥t will be released nationwide because it鈥檚 a national curriculum everyone will benefit from it,鈥 he added.
The Project Accelerating Governance and Adaptive Pedagogy through Artificial Intelligence (Project AGAP.AI) is a large-scale capacity-building program for AI initiatives in basic education, funded by the ASEAN Foundation and powered by Google.org.
Under the program, a nationwide AI training, branded as AI Ready ASEAN Philippines, is expected to introduce AI in plain language by teaching fundamentals, practical classroom usage, ethics, data privacy, and addressing risks such as misinformation.
The reform to integrate the AI concept into the curriculum and teacher training is also supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology鈥檚 (MIT) Responsible AI for Social Empowerment & Education (RAISE) initiative and the Day of AI Initiative.
To complement classroom implementation, the AI-focused training modules for teachers will be rolled out in the second quarter of 2026.
鈥淔or teachers, [we are going to train them] how they can maximize, how can we make them more efficient and how to teach it,鈥 Mr. Angara said.
鈥淔or students, how to research, and then, it鈥檚 gamified, as you can see, that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 attractive to students. It鈥檚 like they鈥檙e just playing,鈥 he added.
Emerging AI-powered tools developed by the Education Center for AI Research (ECAIR) will also be piloted this year to support teaching, assessment, and school management. The DepEd said utilizing the new platforms will help strengthen data-driven and evidence-based decision-making within the education system.
鈥淎I should not be a replacement for, as the President said in his speech, it鈥檚 not a replacement for hard work, for actual studying, for actual reading,鈥 Mr. Angara said.
鈥淓thical use of AI is part of our training. What does that mean? We need to have rules. It鈥檚 not because it鈥檚 there that we鈥檙e going to use it to replace traditional thinking,鈥 he added.
According to the National AI Strategy (NAIS PH) project of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST), the Philippines has set its goal to become an AI-powered country by 2028. 鈥 Almira Louise S. Martinez
