Law to provide laptop, internet connectivity to public school learners eyed by senator

Chairman of the Senate basic education, arts and culture committee Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, is eyeing a law that would provide every public school learners a laptop and an access to internet.

I think there’s no question that they (learners) should have a laptop and access to the internet now. Not 10 years from now, not 15 years from now, but now,

Gatchalian said during a Senate hearing on Friday.

Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan cited the Center for Education Measurement (CEM), which revealed that access to computers and internet at home affects students’ performance. According to CEM, around 60% of learners who participated in the PISA did not have access to computers and connectivity at home. 

Results of the PISA 2018 showed that out of 79 countries, the Philippines ranked lowest in Reading Comprehension and second lowest in Science and Mathematics.

This made a very deep impression on me because times have changed and the basic necessities have changed,

Gatchalian told Malaluan.

Gatchalian compared it to access for water and electricity, access to computers or laptops and the internet is also a “basic necessity.”

After this pandemic, laptops and access to the internet are basic requirements to learning. No child should be left behind simply because he or she cannot have access to gadgets and the internet. That’s a challenge for our government,

he said.

Now the basic question is ‘who will pay for it?’ because affordability becomes an issue and that’s what we are trying to solve right now. I think there is no question that learners should have a laptop and access to the internet now, not 10 or 15 years from now. And we would like to formulate a law wherein we will give every child, every learner a laptop and access to the internet,

he added.