The 2,500 Makati City public school teachers in elementary and junior and senior high school will each receive a brand-new laptop for school year 2020-2021 from the local government unit (LGU) of Makati City, Mayor Abigail "Abby" Binay announced today (July 13).
She said the laptops are targeted to be distributed in October, in time for the celebration of World Teacher’s Day.
“As the education system shifts to the new normal, teachers also have to adapt to the changes. The city government has anticipated their primary needs and will thus be providing them with laptops to ensure that they can promptly prepare their digitized lessons and conduct online classes,” she said.
Binay said this initiative is to make sure that education will continue in spite of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“No one shall be left behind, whether in teaching or in learning. We must support teachers and students alike. As I have previously announced, the city will provide free internet access for teachers and students for their online sessions and activities,” she said.
In June, the mayor announced that the more than 85,000 students from preschool to senior high school enrolled in the city’s public schools for the coming school year will each receive a learner’s package, on top of the annual freebies they receive under Project FREE.
Per the LGU, the learner’s package contains an On-The-Go (OTG) flash drive, printed modules, and two washable face masks in a pouch. Teachers and students will also receive a free load of five hours' worth of internet access daily.
“The OTG flash drive contains digitized learning modules, designed for offline use. It has videos, illustrations, and interactive exercises developed by DepEd Makati. It can be used on a smartphone (Android or iOS), tablet, laptop, desktop, as well as on a smart television.”
DepEd Makati said all students will receive a complete set of printed modules in all subject areas.
“This is to ensure that they will have access to all kinds of learning modalities, whether online, offline, or without need of any gadget.”
