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The Department of Education (DepEd) launched the Education Center for AI Research (E-CAIR) aiming to drive innovation in Philippine education through AI-powered solutions aligned with its 5-Point Reform Agenda.

This initiative builds on the pioneering efforts that the Center for AI Research (CAIR) has started in 2024. Under DepEd’s leadership, E-CAIR will sustain, deepen, and expand the Center’s mission to advance AI capabilities in the Philippine education sector – a critical area where AI can have the greatest impact.

As the first-ever hub for AI research in education in the Philippines, E-CAIR will focus on revitalizing basic education by developing AI-driven tools that enhance teaching, learning, and school administration. This realizes President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s commitment to modernizing the education sector, ensuring Filipino students gain access to quality, technology-driven learning that meets global standards.

E-CAIR will continue to be collaborative and inclusive, working with national and local government agencies as well as industry partners to deliver AI solutions that will transform public and private sectors. The center aligns with the administration’s broader vision of digital transformation, strengthening the role of technology in governance, education, and economic growth.

In addition, the platform will leverage data-driven mapping under the Adopt-A-School Program to identify schools with infrastructure needs. E-CAIR can also support the agency by generating computer-based examination results and offering valuable insights to enhance the qualification system for the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH).

E-CAIR is already driving impactful AI solutions for learners and teachers nationwide, including optimizing education voucher distribution, using computer vision to screen stunted and wasted learners, enhanced detection and screening of learners with disabilities, natural hazards mapping of public and private schools, enhancing public private partnerships for schools through Adopt-A-School, and improving the competencies of school heads.

Through a partnership with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO), DepEd aims to position the Philippines as the AI education hub in Southeast Asia, aiming to pioneer and scale up AI-driven solutions that address shared education challenges in the region.

“Hindi po tayo makikipagsabayan para lang masabi na ‘tech-savvy’ tayo. We are here to use AI as a tool for genuine, enduring reforms. This is the promise of the President’s Bagong Pilipinas,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in his keynote address.

The launch was attended by leaders in the public and private sectors, including Senate Committee on Basic Education Chairperson Sen. Win Gatchalian, House Committee on Basic Education and Culture Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo, TESDA Director-General Jose Francisco Benitez, and DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy.

*All Photos from DepEd