Beginning November, public school teachers and non-teaching personnel will be given free access and training by Canva for Education, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Wednesday.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara signed a partnership with Canva Philippines for the rollout of Canva for Education to bring digital design and creativity into classrooms and support teachers with user-friendly tools for more interactive learning.

Australian Ambassador Hae Kyong Yu praised the swift action of Angara’s team in establishing the partnership with Canva for Education, which will provide Filipino learners and educators with essential tools for 21st-century learning.

“What I didn’t expect was how quickly it was going to happen under Secretary Angara’s leadership. It was literally only a few months ago when he was first appointed that I called on him to emphasize how the Australian government will continue to support in improving your education system,” Yu said.

Canva for Education is an all-in-one visual communication platform that’s 100-percent free for all K to 12 schools, teachers, and students. With it, teachers and students can access all the benefits of Canva’s premium features, empowering them to create, collaborate, and communicate visually.

“The President himself said in his SoNA that classrooms should be incubators of creativity and innovation. With this partnership, we’re building those incubators, one design at a time,” Angara said.

Under the phased rollout, select teachers and central office staff will benefit from the pilot training using Canva’s design platform using their official DepEd email. It will also be rolled out to the 17 regions starting January 2025.

With Canva for Education, teachers and students will have free access to thousands of templates, interactive presentation tools, and design resources.

Yani Hornilla-Donato, Canva Philippines country lead, expressed excitement over the partnership, noting that this collaboration would help teachers and learners embrace digital and design literacy.

“Visual communication is fast becoming a must-have skill in today’s workplace, and it’s time for classrooms in the Philippines to fully embrace the power of digital and design literacy. Through our partnership with DepEd, we’re empowering teachers and students with the tools and technology they need to spark creativity and collaboration,” Hornilla-Donato said.

“We’re so excited for DepEd’s support in this rollout, and we can’t wait to see how this empowers Filipino teachers and students nationwide,” she added.