Manila to provide gadgets, portable WiFi to students, teachers

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 6) — With the Department of Education’s plan to introduce remote learning next school year, the Manila government on Saturday announced it would provide gadgets and portable internet devices to public school students and teachers in the city.

“The Manila City government will buy 110,000 tablet devices equipped with SIM cards and 11,000 laptops with pocket WiFi devices worth P994 million for students and teachers in preparation for upcoming online classes,” Manila Mayor ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso said in a statement.

The mayor SIM cards for the tablets will each have a “10GB bandwidth monthly as well as free 2GB data allocation for YouTube.”

Domagoso said the city aims to distribute the devices before the start of the new academic calendar.

The department is turning to "blended learning'" involving face-to-face and online classes so schools could still deliver lessons despite the threat of coronavirus disease.

The delivery of lessons could be done through the use of the department’s learning resources portal and DepEd Commons, TV, radio and learning modules and packets both in print and digital format, Education Secretary Leonor Briones earlier said.