The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday announced that it has started to turn over SIM cards with connectivity load to 1 million teaching and non-teaching personnel in the Central and Field Offices as part of the agency’s commitment under the Bayanihan 2 Act.
“…Through the support of our President, our lawmakers, and our field offices, DepEd has ensured that our personnel and teachers can efficiently provide basic education services to our learners despite the situation,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
According to a memorandum from the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration (OUA) released on July 1, permanent, contractual, local government unit-paid personnel working under DepEd schools and offices are eligible to receive SIM cards.
The Asset Management Division (AMD) will distribute the cards to DepEd Central Office personnel, while the Regional Supply Officer will issue them at the regional level.
The DepEd also reminded the issuing authority to distribute the said grant to all teaching and non-teaching personnel until July 23.
Moreover, the Division Supply Officer is tasked to give the grant to Schools Division Office (SDO) personnel and Schools Property Custodians. At the same time, the latter will allocate the data allowance to school personnel.
All SIM cards will be activated with an initial 34GB load, which is consumable for one year. The Supply Officers and School Property Custodians shall also register the SIM cards to https://depedconnect.com.ph to allocate load for the second month.
“The department has procured the SIM cards and connectivity load from our external partner for all the teaching and non-teaching personnel to ensure ease in communication and unhampered delivery of services amid the crisis,” shared Undersecretary Alain del B. Pascua.
DepEd-Calabarzon will receive a total of 119,909 SIM cards that will load connectivity for its teaching and non-teaching personnel. In comparison, DepEd-Central Luzon will acquire 101,616 SIM cards, and DepEd-National Capital Region will receive 88,781 SIM cards.
The DepEd said that SIM cards that are not distributed to schools and SDO personnel by the end of July 2021 will be returned to the Division Supply Officers for appropriate accounting. The same applies to the Regional Supply Officers for regional personnel.
According to DepEd, these efforts are spearheaded by the Information and Communications Technology Service headed by Director Abram Y.C. Abanil.
It is also part of the Public Schools of the Future Framework of the Administration Strand under the leadership of Briones.