DepEd Eastern Visayas strengthens communication system

TACLOBAN CITY, Nov. 27 (PNA) - At least 13 information officers and 11 regional staff writers from Department of Education (DepEd) attended on Thursday a two-day capacity building on communication management.

“The workshop is intended to capacitate the division information officers and alternate division information officers... and to strengthen linkages with stakeholders through proper communication,” said Rhoan Lucero-Orebia, OIC-assistant regional director, in her opening message.

“We aim to establish communication system in the division level to promote proper information dissemination to reach all levels of our stakeholders, and strengthen our advocacy on various DepEd programs and projects,” added Jasmin Calzita, regional information officer.

Other speakers during the event were communication unit technical staff Abigail Godoy and Angeline Santos of the DepEd central office.

They discussed about crisis management, writing press release, introduction to social media, website basics, and website sustainability.

“Social media is cost-efficient, has a potentially wide reach, encourages quick sharing of messages, and opens new opportunities to listen, engage, and monitor your progress,” said Santos, as she introduced new platforms for the DepEd to reach out to its stakeholders.

“Our goal is to improve our information, make it effective. We should remember that whatever we do the end is it will impact the children. We should maximize all the communication platforms to ensure that no child will be left behind,” she said.

Santos also urged the participants to “let the children know they are being heard, that their stories are there, and inform them of our programs as stakeholders.”

She however reminded the participants to “exercise tact, caution, and sound judgment when using the official social media accounts.”

Meanwhile, Godoy said that website content should have design qualities like "necessary and useful, credible, understandable and memorable, accessible and useable, and engaging."

The information officers, who came from 13 divisions in the region, were also challenged to come up with up-to-date newsletter and webpage. (PNA)
JMC/SQM/RONALD O. REYES/EGR