By Liza Soriano
MANILA — Senator Grace Poe urged government authorities and telecom firms to strengthen their connections to supply public schools in need with free wifi services.
According to Poe, to guarantee that pupils, even those attending the most remote schools, benefit from connectivity, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Department of Education (DepEd) had to collaborate closely with the telecom companies.
At a time when the education of our children relies on connectivity, access to the free internet is a crucial need that telcos can help provide,” Poe said.
“What to telcos could be a drop in the bucket can go a long mile for the efficient learning of our students,” the chairperson of the Senate Public Services Committee added.
On Poe’s inquiry, it was learned that only around 69 percent of the close to 45,000 public schools have wifi access and at varying degrees.
“It’s unimaginable for a big population of students not to have wifi access especially now when we are saying that online education has become part of the new normal,” she said.
“Some may be able to spend a few pesos for wifi for their school works such as research, but how about the others who do not have the means?” Poe added.
Meanwhile, Poe expressed optimism the telcos will continue to be a willing partner of government in the latter’s digitalization program.
(ai/mnm)