THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers called on the Department of Information and Communications Technology to distribute the agency’s unutilized laptops and tablets discovered by the Commission on Audit to teachers and learners.

“Sana ay maipamahagi na kaagad ngayong pasukan ang 866 laptops at 12,482 tablets na nakatambak lamang sa DICT na para naman talaga sa mga guro at mag-aaral. It is frustrating that while gadgets for education are extremely lacking, there are gadgets that only gather dust in DICT storage, and there are outdated gadgets that are bought on exorbitant prices. Kabi-kabila ang kapalpakan ng gobyerno sa pagbibigay ng kailangang suporta sa edukasyon,” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

Quetua noted the government’s inability to provide laptops to teachers based on the survey on the labor situation of teachers last April 2021.

The online survey which was participated in by 6,732 public school teachers nationwide showed that 69 percent of the respondents from the National Capital Region use personally owned laptops. In regions outside the NCR, 77 percent of the respondents are using their personally acquired laptops, with 23 percent of them still paying for the gadget.

The survey further revealed that only a small portion of the respondents use laptops issued by the DepEd.

“Sa kabuuan, nasa 10 percent lamang ng mga guro ang gumagamit ng laptop na galing sa pamahalaan samantalang dalawang taon silang pinagturo sa remote learning at tambak ang reports at mga gawain online. Halos sangkapat ng mga guro ang naghuhulog pa sa mga inutang na laptop. Nasaan ang hustisya rito na ang empleyado pa ang gumagastos at nagkakautang para sa mga kagamitan sa trabaho na dapat ay ibinibigay ng employer?” Quetua said.

“Hindi naman pinabibili ng sariling baril ang mga pulis, o ng sariling computer ang mga empleyado sa opisina, kahit ang mga janitor ay hindi naman pinabibili ng sariling walis, pero bakit ang mga guro ay hindi mabigyan ng kailangang gadget sa pagtatrabaho?” he added.

The group has been demanding for the provision of laptop to every teacher since the start of the implementation of distance learning.