A group called out the Department of Education (DepED) for reclaiming laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones issued to teachers during the implementation of distance learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The DepEd is using the ‘learner card’ to insinuate that our teachers are being unreasonable and selfish, when, in reality, it is them who are failing in their duty to provide teachers and learners enough computer devices,” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said in a statement issued Thursday, Nov. 3.
Citing reports from the ground, ACT noted that teachers in several public schools in Zamboanga del Sur, Camarines Norte, Quezon City, Malabon City, and Cebu City were ordered to return the devices lent to them given that full face-to-face classes already resumed on Nov. 2.
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https://mb.com.ph/2022/11/02/first-day-of-return-to-full-face-to-face-classes-orderly-so-far-deped/
ACT said that in Zamboanga del Sur, for instance, all gadgets lent to teachers will be retrieved from Nov. 2 to 4 to be led by the DepEd division accountant.
In Ernesto Rondon Highschool in Quezon City, ACT said that laptop retrieval is scheduled on Nov. 4. The group pointed out that same has also been done in Abellana National High School in Cebu City and Jose Panganiban National High School in Camarines Norte.
In Tobaco City, the Schools Division Superintendent asked the school heads to inform the teachers “to return” the gadgets under the DepED Computerization Program (DCP) packages used during the Covid-19 pandemic on or before Nov. 7.
ACT noted that the schools cited the Deped Office of the Undersecretary for Administration memorandum 00-420-0029 “Guidelines on the Use of Desktop Computers, Laptops, Tablets, PCs, and Smartphones at Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic” issued on April 2020, stating that “teachers are required to return the said devices upon the resumption of regular classes,” as a basis for the retrieval of the gadgets.
Additional burden for teachers
ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua criticized DepED’s move because this will add up to the struggles of teachers in performing their teaching tasks.
“When will the Department of Education understand that it is the agency’s responsibility as the employer to provide each of its teacher with the necessary equipment for them to be able to perform their duties?” Quetua said.
“What they should be working on is filling up their backlogs in laptop provision to teachers and not increasing further the number of teachers who has no laptop to use,” he added.
The group also pointed out that teachers need laptops all the time --- remote learning or not.
“They need it for lesson presentations in the six hours that they teach, in the remaining two working hours that they make reports and attend meetings, and in more hours at home to prepare lessons, record learning outputs and grades,” Quetua said.
Instead of pitting teachers and students over devices, ACT called on the DepED to focus its attention on other issues that will address the challenges in the education sector, especially those encountered by the teachers.
“It is simply unfair for our employer to expect us to provide the necessary equipment for the performance of our official duties,” Quetua said.
ACT noted that more laptops and gadgets are being recalled in other areas nationwide.
Only the ‘borrowed’ gadgets are retrieved
Meanwhile, DepED clarified that only the gadgets that are owned by the schools are being retrieved from teachers.
“These gadgets are the property of the schools themselves,” DepED Spokesperson Michael Poa said.
He explained that the laptops and computers owned by the schools are the only gadgets being retrieved and not those issued to teachers.
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