Bill seeks tablets for all public school students

MANILA, Philippines — A bill has been filed in the House of Representatives seeking to provide tablets to all students of public school and state universities and colleges (SUCs).

House Bill 10405 or the proposed “One Tablet, One Student Act,” filed by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, seeks to provide each public school student a free tablet.

For students who already have their own personal learning gadgets, they shall be instead given educational assistance in the form of an internet allowance to cover the cost of connectivity.

Legarda, three-term senator and former chair of the Senate finance committee, urged both the House and the Senate to consider allocating funds for the program under the proposed 2022 national budget.

She explained that the measure is necessary to enable students to adapt to the online mode of learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on Department of Education (DepEd) data, there are 27 million elementary and high school students enrolled in the current academic year and 1.6 million enrolled in SUCs and local universities and colleges.

Legarda said in her lone Antique district alone, there are around 30,194 students from kinder to senior high school who do not have devices such as smartphones or tablets, hindering them from coping with the flexible learning system being implemented by the DepEd.