The local government of Manila will buy 27,200 more tablet computers to ensure that all the city's public school students will have gadgets to use for the upcoming blended learning system.
In his Facebook video message Friday night, Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso said they ordered more computers as the city only initially ordered about 110,000 tablets. There are 275,000 students enrolled in Manila public schools this year.
"Because the number of our enrollees ballooned, we held a meeting again with our school board and decided to buy 27,200 more tablets. So, in total, the city will have acquired 137,200 tablets," Domagoso said in Filipino.
He clarified that each household— not each student—will get a tablet to make sure that everyone is covered.
"Ang solusyon na ginawa ay bawat household o sa Tagalog, bawat tahanan. Ngayon kung ang isang household ay tatanggap ng isang tablet, 'yun ay para sa isa o dalawa o tatlong estudyante doon sa isang household. Ibig sabihin maghihiraman sila (We decided that each household will get one tablet, and that is for one or two or three students in the house. The idea is to share in the use of the device)," he said.
The mayor is confident that by doing this, the number of tablets that the city will purchase will be enough for the number of enrolled students.
"If you divide 275,000 by 3, more or less, we will only need 90,000 tablets. But we've bought 137,000, so it's more than enough," he said in Filipino.
In instances where several households share the same address and end up receiving only one tablet computer, Domagoso said, they have nothing to worry about.
"Ganito nangyayari ha. Ako lumaki ako sa skwater kaya niliwanag ko to... Yorme, paano po pag isang compound kami... ibig kong sabihin, may mga lugar po sa Maynila na humihiram lang ng isang address at yung pamilya na yun ay naka address sa isang address, so isang household, tama po ba? So isa lang mabibigay? Eh paano kung may apat pa na pamilya sa compound na yun?...Wag kayo mag-alala (There are those who are asking me, what if they live in the same compound and share the same address. Will they get only one tablet? Don't worry. I grew up in a slum that is why I am clarifying this)," Domagoso said.
"Ngayon po ang ginawa ng division of city schools, napag-alaman na nila na meron palang mga compound o area na pitong pamilya, sampung pamilya, o bahay na iisa ang ginagamit na address. Alam na po nila yun (The Division of City Schools already know about this situation, of families sharing the same address)," he added.
Domagoso assured that families with more than three children going to school will receive more than one tablet.
Each student will reportedly have his own SIM card with 10 GB allocated internet data so he will not have to share his data with other siblings.
The mayor asked his constituents not to get tablets more than what they need and think of others, especially in this time of crisis.
School officials have already distributed a total of 66,510 tablets, Domagoso reported.