The Paranaque City government is providing P300 million worth of gadgets for public school pupils and teachers to cope with the “new normal education” this school year.
Mayor Edwin Olivarez said his administration also approved the allocation of P200 million for the P6,000 annual allowance of 16,000 junior and senior high school students this coming August, the start of classes this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 7,000 tablets will be distributed to the city’s kinder and Grade 1 pupils while 300 units of laptop computers will be given to public school teachers worth P300 million, sourced from the local government’s special education fund (SEF).
“Instead of allocating the tablets to the high school students, the members of our local school board decided to issue the gadget to kinder and Grade 1 pupils. Today, computer will be a formative experience for a kid to learn the best in the world,” said Olivarez.
Officials of the city’s Department of Education will be using distance learning trough modular instruction this 2020-21 school year. Public school teachers are now prepared after attending several online learning trainings.
Olivarez expressed support to the DepEd’s plan to shift from the traditional face-to-face classes to blended learning due to the threat of the coronavirus disease pandemic.
He also appealed to the parents to guide their child’s education especially during the COVID-19 period even they are both employed.
City Treasurer Anthony Pulmano said the tablets with sim cards will be allocated to pupil early weeks of next month including the laptop computer for kinder and elementary teachers.
Pulmano assured the public-school students and teachers in the city government is ready for the blended learning program as they have more funds left in the SEF amounting another P500 million.
He said the city government is scouting a location where to build cell sites in the city’s two districts if ever the national government proposes virtual classes on August 24.
A portion of the budget would also fund the internet allowance for public school teachers to address their concerns regarding connectivity under the planned blended system of learning, according to the city treasurer.
According to Pulmano, the budget for the P500 monthly allowance of junior and senior high school students will be mainly sourced from the city’s SEF.
He explained that the allowance is to help their families cope with their needs while the country is under coronavirus pandemic.
