Free computer tablets for public school learners, students pushed

INVOKING the need to ensure quality education in all public schools, Senator Loren Legarda is prodding Congress to frontload passage of an enabling law providing computer tablets for all public school students and learners.

In filing Senate Bill No. 1, to be known as the“One Tablet, One Studentact of 2022,” leg arda asserted the importance of providing quality education for all Filipino students in helping them cope with challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The senator stressed the proposed “One Tablet, One Student Act of 2022” was crafted to “give each elementary and secondary level student in public schools, as well as those enrolled in State Universities and Colleges [SUCS], a tablet to help them adapt to the online learning system being implemented by the Department of Education [Deped] since early 2020 due to the current health crisis.”

“By giving students their much needed device for learning, they would be able to participate effectively in their classes, and thus, we give them the opportunity to acquire more knowledge and becomes killed after they graduate. It is one way of making quality educationaccessible to all, especially to those who cannot afford to buy their own gadgets,” the senator said.

In turn, Legarda proposed that those students who already have their learning gadgets should “instead be provided with internet allowance to cover the cost of connectivity.”

As provided in the Legarda bill, the Deped and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall be tasked to implement the program, determine the eligibility of students who will qualify, develop an effective distribution system, “and formulate guidelines on the usage, maintenance, and accountability for the tablet.”

Under Legarda’s Senate Bill No.1, the Deped and CHED, in coordination with the local government units through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), shall be tasked to disseminate the implementing rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the program.

Recalling that the Deped earlier announced the implementation of full face-to-face classes in November, Legarda stressed that the “One Tablet, One Student” program would still be “necessary and beneficial” as she noted the number of Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate in the country has been increasing.