The municipality of San Nicolas in Ilocos Norte has launched an online storytelling show to keep up with digital learners of the 21st century.

Starting Saturday, the official Facebook page of the San Nicolas government will live-stream unique and never-before-heard stories for children, particularly those that instill awareness about the town’s rich cultural heritage, livelihood and industries, disaster risk reduction and environmental management, and others that are considered the top priority programs of the current administration led by Mayor Alfredo Valdez.

The weekly online program, entitled “Live Echo from the Pot: The San Nicolas Damili Reading School”, will be aired every Saturday morning with local teachers, barangay education workers, and other government workers taking turns as storytellers and writers.

Saturday’s launch coincided with the observance of National Reading Month, the Annual Filipino Values Month, and the National Book and Development Month, which are commemorated every November.

To ensure the quality of the stories’ content, the municipal government partnered with the Department of Education, particularly its retired supervisors, principals, and educators who served as technical group members in evaluating and reviewing the reading materials before they are published or shared online.

It was learned that some municipal officials will also share their success stories and may join as guest storytellers during the show.

“What I only ask of you is to be more compassionate in teaching the students who are hard up with their modules and online classes,” Valdez said in an earlier meeting with the education workers.

Since December last year, at least 91 unemployed professional teachers from the town have been commissioned by the municipal government to provide free tutorial services among struggling learners in the barangay to ensure that no one gets left behind.

In a quickly changing world, Valdez underscored that it is worth investing in the education of children as this would define the future of the town.

Education, he said, is a fundamental human right and learning must never stop even in times of a pandemic. (PNA)