Manila starts distribution of gadgets to students next week

MANILA – The laptops, tablets and pocket Wi-Fi units promised by the city government of Manila have arrived and are scheduled for distribution starting August 24.

Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso, in his Facebook page on Monday, showed a glimpse of the tablets which will be given free to students from elementary to senior high school enrolled in public schools in the city, while public school teachers would also be given laptops.

These gadgets come with a free SIM card for the tablet and a pocket Wi-Fi for the laptops, both with a monthly data allocation of 10 gigabytes (GB).

“Glimpse on what’s coming on Monday para sa mga Batang Maynila! Magsisimula na po ang delivery next week ng ating mga tablets at laptops para sa mga minamahal kong mga guro at estudyante bilang paghahanda para sa nalalapit na pagsisimula ng blended distant learning (for Manila residents. We will start with the delivery next week of our tablets and laptops for our beloved teachers and students as part of the preparation for the opening of the blended distant learning),” Domagoso said in his post.

In June, Domagoso announced the city government allotted PHP994 million to buy tablets and laptops for the students and teachers in the city.

This, after the Department of Education (DepEd) said that it will be implementing a blended learning system for the school year 2020-2021 amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

About 110,000 tablets with SIM cards are to be distributed to the city’s kinder to Grade 12 public school students and 11,000 laptops with pocket Wi-Fi for the teachers for their online classes.

The initial plan is only about 91,000 tablets but the city school board, based on the suggestion of Domagoso, decided to increase the number to 110,000 due to the expected influx of students from private schools amid the economic impact of the pandemic.

“This effort of your city government is to help every student and teacher to continue studying and adapt to the new normal of education. Ito ay tulong na rin natin sa mga magulang para maibsan ang kanilang hirap na mapaaral ang kanilang mga anak (This is also to help parents who are having difficulty in sending their children to school),” Domagoso said.

Last week, the Department of Education moved the opening of classes for the school year 2020-2021 to October 5 from the original August 24 schedule.