THE Department of Education (DepEd) has requested the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to streamline the application process of all public school teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members for the upcoming 2022 polls in obtaining the Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI) digital signatures.
“We are continuously cooperating with our lead agencies to have a secure and peaceful elections, and part of our commitment is to ensure that our teachers are protected and given the proper support,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said on Monday.
As part of the agency’s preparation, it is seeking to facilitate the bulk application of more than 900,000 of its employees to obtain their PNPKI digital signatures.
The PNPKI digital signature is a new requirement of the Commission of Elections (Comelec) for all public school teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members. It is a virtual “key” that subscribers use to secure files sent over an otherwise unsecured public network like the Internet.
To download application forms, physically filling them out, and uploading the same “wherein checking for accuracy, is an altogether different tedious task,” according to DepEd. In previous discussions with the DICT, the requirements for individual interviews and supporting IDs had been waived.
However, DepEd stressed that they are further requesting the waiving of the requirement for individual application forms as this may be cumbersome to check individually for errors.
For his part, Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua pointed out in the DepEd letter to DICT, “This proposal will guarantee that our teachers will not be burdened by rigorous steps and requirements anymore.”
Likewise, the DepEd proposed the use of available secure and reliable technologies and the submission of documents for bulk processing in place of the PNPKI application forms.
Documents proposed to be submitted to DICT include a spreadsheet file containing DepEd employees’ verified data certified by Human Resources, and an institutional application from DepEd in place of individual applications.
In addition, the department will facilitate the online registration of its employees through its DepEd Mobile App and DepEd Commons to expedite the application process.
Earlier, the DepEd assured the public it will ensure that teachers are technically and legally equipped for the upcoming elections as they also proposed the creation of Comelec-DepEd Monitoring and Coordination Teams as part of the 2022 DepEd Election Task Force.
It will be composed of select officials and personnel from the different levels of DepEd governance. According to Comelec, the honoraria for members of the Monitoring and Coordination Teams would also be included in the budget.
“With DepEd and the teachers’ vital participation in the 2022 National and Local Elections, we will continue our dialogue with Comelec to ensure the health and welfare of our teachers and personnel who will be sitting in the polling,” Briones noted.