CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) recently introduced the NCCA Learning Hub website, an online portal that lets teachers and students access resource materials for the arts and cultural education.

The learning hub is aimed at supplementing and improving contemporary learning and teaching practices in the field of arts and culture.

This platform provides Filipinos a "one-stop-shop" for all NCCA educational resources, says Elvert Bañares, the website designer.

"Ito po ay website, lahat po ng proyekto ng NCCA na educational ay dito po natin nilalagay para makatulong sa pag-educate at magamit sa classrooms ng ating mga teachers to supplement their lectures and educational strategies sa pagturo sa ating mga students of different ages," says Bañares.

(This is a website, all educational projects of the NCCA are housed here to help teachers, educate learners, and be used in classrooms to supplement their lectures and educational strategies for students of different ages)

Bañares says the NCCA Learning Hub is designed for teachers and for everyone who "wants to share information, everyone who wants to share and partake of cultural education, and anyone who loves education."

The learning hub also provides materials for the Filipino Values Program of the NCCA, including Heneral Tuna which is an animated series produced by the commission specifically to promote Filipino values among young learners. This animated series was launched online in 2021 through the NCCA's Facebook page, YouTube, and other online platforms due to the pandemic.

It also includes films from Sine Halaga, a film festival featuring stories with Filipino values, which Bañares also curates as the festival director.

"The teachers' resources is at the heart of the learning hub kung saan ang Husay Sining, where teachers can download all for free mga syllabi para sa pagtuturo ng arts, from dance music film theater literature nandito lahat, libre. 'Yung supplemental videos natin nakikita din natin sa learning hub; you don't need to go out of the website," says Bañares.

(The teachers' resources are at the heart of the learning hub, where they can access Husay Sining and download all for free, such as syllabi for teaching the arts, from dance, music, film, theater, and literature, it’s all here for free. You can also find supplemental videos on the learning hub; you don't need to go outside of the website)

The learning hub website is an online portal that gives plenty of information that aims to help teachers and students understand the fundamentals of arts and cultural education and supplement and improve contemporary learning and teaching practices in the field. 

Bálay Pinoy

This learning platform is part of the annual NCCA Filipino values month celebration, dubbed "Bálay Pinoy," in November in partnership with the Negros Cultural Foundation, Inc.

The celebration in 2021 brought together film, TV, and multimedia production masterpieces under one digital festival to culminate year-long values education and awareness initiatives.

Dubbed "Bálay Pinoy,"  the NCCA Filipino Values Month Celebration aims to streamline and expand the efforts to promote awareness of the 20 core and shared

Filipino values were identified on the basis of the research conducted by the NCCA and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in 2019 and 2020.

This year, "Bálay Pinoy" returns to offer the Filipino public a hybrid experience between online and offline, with the theme "Halagahan, ang puso ng pagka-Pilipino" (Filipino values, the heart of the Filipino identity).

NCCA Executive Director Oscar Casaysay said the thrust of the commission is clear: to partner, cooperate, unite, and collaborate with various sectors, be they private, public, or even international, "kailangan maibahagi namin, wala kaming monopolyo ng kaalaman wala ring makakapagsabi na kami lang sa NCCA ang makakapgsabi ng totoo, ang katotohanan po ay kinakailangang tinitignan natin ito sa iba't-ibang perspektibo para mapagsangayunan."

(We need to share this, we do not have a monopoly of knowledge, no one can also say that it is only the NCCA that can tell the truth, the truth is that we need to see in various perspectives so we can agree)
The learning hub can be accessed at www.nccalearninghub.com. ( SAYU/PIA-10)