House bill which seeks to provide public school teachers with gadgets proposed

Manila Teachers party list Representative, Virgilio Lacson, filed the House Bill No. 7892 or the proposed “Teachers Tech Up Act” which seeks to provide all public school teachers to be given computers, web cameras, Internet connection devices, and other necessary technical equipment to enable teachers to carry out their lessons in the new normal.

At the present, the efforts in providing our teachers with financial and equipment are localized. While, the actions of our local government are highly valued, these actions still fall short in terms of guaranteeing that each and every public school teacher throughout the country is well-equipped with the technological advances essential in shifting to blended learning,

Lacson said in his bill’s explanatory note. 

He added that the measures in the bill he has been proposing should’ve happened a long time ago and now is the time for the government to address the urgent issue of lack of technological resources among public school teachers in our educational system.

According to HB No. 7892, any necessary expense for maintenance, upkeep, update of hardware or software due to reasonable use or outdating shall be shouldered by the State, but to be done by authorized service providers relating to the brand of the computer. It provides that each computer provided to a public school teacher shall have an expected quality and to be reasonably usable according to the purpose of its issuance for at least five years. 

The teacher may seek the replacement by surrendering it for a computer equal or better specification and usability according to what is publicly available at the time of replacement after such period from the date of the issuance of the computer.

Such computers shall be owned by the State and held by the public school teachers in trust for the benefit of the State,

Lacson said. 

HB No. 7892 also provides public school teachers an allowance that will ensure the connectivity or Internet access, with at least eight gigabytes of data per month.

This bill will ensure that our teachers are equipped to hold the next generation of Filipinos into full-fledged and productive members of our society. It is through this bill that we can, in one way, realize the potential of the youth and achieve the ideals set forth in our Constitution,

Lacson said.

DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) are tasked to implement the rules and regulations of the proposed Act.