The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines expressed criticisms over the government’s failure to provide laptops and data allowances for the teachers as the current school year ends in a month.
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The group said that the 68, 500 laptops and 100GB data allowance for three months, under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act also known as “Bayanihan 2 enacted in December 2020, have not received by the teachers.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has finalized the last day of School Year (SY) 2020-2021 on July 10, 2021.
ACT also said that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced that it has already remitted all the funds for the said measure to their respective agencies; however teachers have not yet received the expected provisions.
ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio expressed that such provisions were supposed to help teachers better perform their already challenging duties this year and were part of the state’s mandate to provide the operational needs of distance learning.
The group also called out the DepEd over its slow disbursement of funds after Senator Angara revealed that the agency has only recently obligated 62 percent of the P4 billion provisions from Bayanihan 2.
Ano’ng petsa na? Matatapos na lang ang taon nang hindi man lang napakinabangan ng mga guro at maski ng aming mga estudyante ang kakaunti at huling suporta ng gobyerno sa edukasyon,
Basilio said.
Through reports gathered nationwide by the group, ACT claimed that not one region has received the laptops and said data allowance from the DepEd Central Office.
ACT added that although there some divisions in the country who reported receiving limited numbers of laptops and teachers who were able to avail data allowances, it clarified that these came from either their respective local government units (LGUs) or DepEd’s 2020 computerization program.
DepEd is notorious for its poor fiscal performance, which have long forced teachers to shoulder the costs of education delivery. But this can’t go on. We simply can’t afford it any longer amid the severe crises besetting our country,
Basilio said lambasting DepEd and demanded the agency to give a definitive answer on when will the provisions be enjoyed by teachers and students.
Additionally, Basilio noted that DepEd must be held accountable over failing to quickly provide support to its teachers and argued that this goes against the objective of a “Bayanihan” measure which to immediately respond to the needs of the country amid the health and economic crises.
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Teachers’ group laments absence of promised laptops, data allowances as school year ends
Reviewed by Issues PH
on
June 13, 2021
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Reviewed by Issues PH
on
June 13, 2021
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