THE DEPARTMENT of Education said that more than 600,000 personnel and teachers have submitted their application for Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure digital signature, a requirement by the Commission on Elections for teachers who will serve in next year’s polls.

The PNPKI digital signature is a new requirement for teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members. It is a virtual key that lets users encrypt or conceal data into a code and embed important transactions like email exchange to protect it from hackers. The PNPKI fosters trust in government agencies as it promises secure transactions with the public.

As of October 29, over 658,000 personnel and teachers have submitted their applications. At least 83 percent of these applications have been validated by DepEd’s Human Resources Units and will be submitted to the Department of Information and Communications Technology, which helps DepEd process the PNPKI applications.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones thanked DICT for its help.

“Data security is a priority especially during elections, and with majority of our personnel and teachers having secured their digital signatures through PNPKI, we are equipping them well and getting ready for their tasks as members of the Electoral Board,” Briones said.

With DICT’s help, DepEd was able to fast-track the registration of teachers and personnel with the DepEd Learning Management System as the online platform.

It allowed the Department to file applications for the digital certificates in bulk and for the DICT to waive the submission of requirements.