House Deputy Speaker and Antique representative Loren Legarda has filed House Bill No. 10405 also known as the "One Tablet, One Student Act of 2021” which seeks to provide a tablet for each public elementary and secondary student as well as students enrolled in state universities and colleges (SUCs).
Legarda believes that the bill will greatly help public schools students adapt to the online mode of learning amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and has been urging both Houses to allocate funds for the program.
In a letter to House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and House Appropriations Chairman Eric Go Yap, Legarda proposed to augment the proposed budget of DepEd by P154 billion to fund the implementation of the act starting next year.
If approved by Congress, DepEd said it will prioritize students in Grades 4, 7, and 10 each year.
Students who already have their own personal learning gadgets shall be given educational assistance in the form of an internet allowance to cover the cost of connectivity instead,
she said.
She noted in Antique, for example, that there are about 30,194 students from kindergarten to senior high school who do not have devices such as smartphones or tablets (based on a report of the Department of Education (DepEd) Provincial Schools Division) and this hinders them from coping with the flexible learning system currently being implemented by DepEd.
There is no greater investment than education to help alleviate poverty and build a sustainable and progressive nation. We have to invest enough support for the education of our youth so that they can enjoy more opportunities to be eventually employed as professionals and productive members of our society,
she added.
As the government is currently pushing for the gradual return of face-to-face classes, Legarda noted that risks of contracting the virus and its variants remain a threat, thereby justifying the need to equip students and selected teachers with the gadget.
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