The Department of Education is now drawing up its plans to provide data allowance for teachers to aid them in online learning.
Data Allowance for teachers
The Department of Education through Undersecretary Alain Pascua, announced last Tuesday that the department’s plan to allocate budget for the data allowance for teachers to be used for the online learning program. It has come to the attention of the DepEd that one of the major concerns of teachers for the duration of the online learning program is internet connectivity. A handful of teachers admitted that they are quite concerned about the additional expenses on their end to maintain a stable internet connection to push through with online learning. On average, an internet subscription in the Philippines runs around P1,000-P1,500 ($20-$30) per month.
Pascua issued a memorandum that will assess and provide a budget allocation for the data allowance for teachers and non-teaching personnel. To apply for the data allowance program, teaching and non-teaching staff should register inside the DepEd Commons platform. A screening committee will determine who is qualified for the program through set provisions provided by the DepEd. The deadline for application will be up to September 21, 2020.
According to Pascua, the department has already tapped into the Big Telecom companies in the country for a partnership that will provide teachers and DepEd employees with internet access at a reasonable cost. The DepEd expects around 870,000 teachers and more than 50,000 non-teaching staff to apply for this data allowance grant.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) applauds the gesture by the DepEd to provide for the internet needs of the teachers. The P1,500 ($30)/month should be enough to cover the data allowance for teachers taking part in online learning, it helps lessen the financial burden on our teachers, for all we know doesn’t have that much of a salary at all.
