THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers has shared a memorandum issued by the Department of Education’s office in Tabaco City ordering the return of devices lent to teachers as well as photos of a laptop retrieval activity in Zamboanga del Sur.

The DepEd justified the retrieval of devices released to teachers for distance learning, saying the gadgets are no longer needed now that physical classes have resumed.

“Ang tanong lang naman namin sa DepEd, ano na ang gagamitin ngayon ng mga guro sa paghahanda ng leksiyon, sa patong-patong na reports na ipinagagawa ninyo, at sa kabi-kabilang ancillary duties na ibinalikat ninyo sa amin? Marami nang laptop na nabili at nasira ang mga guro sa paggampan ng mga opisyal na gawain. It is simply unfair for our employer to expect us to provide the necessary equipment for the performance of our official duties,” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

“The DepEd is using the ‘learner card’ to insinuate that our teachers are being unreasonable and selfish, when, in reality, it is them who are failing in their duty to provide teachers and learners enough computer devices,” he added.

The group also asked what happened to the 1,678 laptops found by the Commission on Audit gathering dust at the DepEd Central Office.

“Gumawa na ba ng hakbang ang DepEd para hingiin ang 866 laptops at 12,482 tablets na nakatambak lang sa Department of Information and Communication Technology? May mananagot na ba sa overpriced laptops na binili ng DepEd? These are the things that they should be putting their attention on, instead of pitting teachers and students over devices,” Quetua said.