Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso vowed to provide public school students and teachers with the necessary tools so they can get quality education amid the health crisis.
“In our own little way, bilang isang batang galing sa squatter (as a boy who came from the slum area), masakit mapagkaitan ng edukasyon, napakahalaga ng edukasyon sa kahit sino mang tao, lalo na ‘yung mahirap (it hurts to be deprived of education, education is important to any person, especially the poor). Kaya noong nagkaroon ng pandemya, ang Maynila (That’s why when pandemic started in Manila), we provided free bandwidth and laptops for teachers, tablets for our students, para ma-bridge, matulay natin, maitawid natin yung pag-aaral ng ating mga kabataan (to bridge the studies of our youth),” Moreno said during the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) presidential forum.
Domagoso is continuously distributing laptops and tablets to students and teachers, along with free bandwidth, in Manila’s public schools.
Students in city-owned colleges are also receiving a monthly P500 assistance from the city government to support their needs.
The mayor said that, if elected president, he will build more public schools in the country like what he did in Manila.
Domagoso said his administration will take advantage of the gap in face-to-face classes by using the government funds to build more public schools with fully air-conditioned 10-storey buildings complete with proper facilities for the next generation.
Currently, the city government is building three modern 10-storey public school buildings -- the Dr. Alejandro Albert Elementary School, Rosauro Almario Elementary School and the Manila Science High School, which are all outfitted with more than 200 air-conditioned classrooms, basketball courts, gyms, and roof decks.
The 47-year-old presidential aspirant also vowed to build a national fiber backbone to make sure that all Filipino students will have access to fast and reliable internet connection to boost their educational needs.
Education is one of the pillars of Domagoso’s 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda, with the aim of ensuring that the Filipino youth are competent, capable and ready for the digital transformation of manufacturing, production and related industries. (Terence Ranis)