By Lane Afable, News Editor
The Department of Education (DepEd) will launch an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted system to help reduce the heavy administrative workload of teachers, particularly in assessing students’ nutrition.
According to DepEd, the AI-enabled solution aims to speed up the identification of students’ conditions, improve data accuracy, and enable quicker response.
Developed by the Education Center for AI Research (ECAIR), the system called SIGLA (System for Intelligent Growth and Learner Anthropometry) is a mobile phone-assisted tool that helps teachers estimate students’ height and BMI (Body Mass Index).
Using various AI frameworks such as computer vision, SIGLA can perform nutritional classification based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, reducing the need for manual measurement and data encoding.
According to Education Secretary Sonny Angara, SIGLA is an important step toward easing the administrative burden on teachers while improving the monitoring of students’ health.
He added that with the help of mobile phones, teachers can more quickly identify which students need immediate attention, allowing earlier provision of necessary nutrition support while giving teachers more time to focus on teaching.
Based on the EDCOM 2 Policy Brief, up to 55% of teachers’ time is spent on non-teaching tasks, making systems like this crucial in reducing that burden. SIGLA aims to reclaim this time through a more streamlined screening process.
Dr. Erika Fille Legara of ECAIR said that SIGLA can help detect early signs of children at risk of stunting or being underweight using only mobile phone images, without the need for specialized equipment.
It was also emphasized that the system is only a decision-support tool, and human reviewers will remain part of the process. Its goal is to assist teachers and health personnel in identifying which students require more thorough assessment and follow-up.
Through better organization and analysis of health data, SIGLA is expected to support more effective prioritization of interventions and monitoring of students’ conditions.
According to Daisy Cañizares, principal of Project 6 Special Science Elementary School in Quezon City, SIGLA is more effective because it reduces manual processes, allowing teachers to focus more on teaching.
Finally, Angara emphasized that SIGLA is part of DepEd’s broader goal of promoting innovation in education and public service.
