Solar-powered computers for rural public schools

PASIG CITY – In an effort to widen access to technology in far-flung areas, the Department of Education (Deped) is set to distribute computer packages and solar panels to public schools in areas without available electricity.

According to Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua, for this year, the Deped beneficiaries are about 6,000 public schools both in elementary and secondary levels in places without electrical supply.

“The innovation in this effort is that the computer package includes a solar panel that will support the provision of electrical energy. We hope that these computers will help improve their teaching and learning activities despite their remote location,” Pascua said.

The computer package includes one laptop and a 7-in-1 tablet.

“This is the government’s initiative to promote tech-savviness in rural barangays and let them cope with the technological advancement of their counterparts in the urban area,” Pascua said.

The Deped estimates 4,000 beneficiaries will be from Luzon and Mindanao, while 2,000 schools will be from the Visayas.

With P1.4 billion funding under the Deped 2015 Computerization Program budget, the procurement is underway through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service (DBM-PS).

Under the Deped Computerization Program, the government has allotted P6 billion funds under the 2017 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to procure about 188,000 units of computers for public elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

The DCP is in response to the computer backlog in public schools, where Deped will provide hardware and software package, including training on simple troubleshooting.

The program has the following goals: provision of computer laboratory packages to public secondary schools, including Senior High School (SHS) and provision of e-classrooms to elementary schools; provision of laptop units to mobile teachers; and integration of ICT in the classroom system while raising the literacy of learners on new technology. DEPED