THE DEPARTMENT of Education has reminded the teachers that there is no urgent need for them to buy laptops or computers.

DepEd Undersecretary for Administration Alain Pascua clarified that despite the availability of online learning as a teaching mode this school year, there is no urgent need for laptops for teachers and students.

“The beauty of our approach is that we have options available for everyone. Hindi lamang para sa may laptop, o may cellphone ang bagong school year,” Pascua said.

DepEd, however, recognizes the importance of having the right equipment for the task at hand, and is striving to immediately provide public school teachers with laptops and other equipment.

As early as April, the Office of the Undersecretary for Administration had released a memorandum allowing school heads to lend equipment to teachers.

The memorandum provides guidelines enabling public school teachers to borrow IT equipment such as desktop computers, laptops, tablet PCs, and Smartphones from their schools for use during the pandemic and in preparation for school year 2020-2021.

A set of guidelines was also prescribed for select learners who wish to borrow equipment from the school through OUA Memo 00-0720-0063, subject to the approval of the school head. The Learner Enrollment and Survey Form will be the primary basis for identifying learners who may borrow devices, with priority given for learners with disabilities.

Under the Digital Rise Program, Pascua added that the DepEd is moving towards providing all schools with the appropriate IT equipment, including laptops for all public school teachers.

“How can we expect teachers to teach our learners about technology, when they do not have the right equipment to do so? We are now trying to fast track our Digital Rise Program, in line with the President’s direction to move towards online and digital learning,” he added.