Efforts are on to provide each student in the Philippines with a tablet device to allow them to have access to quality educational resource materials. Towards this, Senate Bill 2454 otherwise known as the One Tablet One Student Act has been proposed that envisages providing all students, be it in the elementary, secondary, or those studying in college a tablet device to further their educational endeavor. The bill also seeks to provide internet connectivity costs to those who already have their own personal learning devices.
It is the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education who will be overseeing the implementation of the One Tablet, One Student scheme. Binay said the scheme will let students have access to quality education without being exposed to the hazards of Covid 19. The move is also aimed to address a key deficiency highlighted by the World Bank that revealed the stark inequality in digital access which has come to the fore post the pandemic.
Also, the students lacking quality digital aids is one thing, the other side of the tragedy is that even the teachers face the same scenario. The World Bank report on this point out that almost 60 percent of household lack internet connectivity. Binay said, citing data from DepEd and CHED, it is about 27 million students enrolled in elementary and secondary/ higher secondary levels who are going to benefit from the One Student One Tablet program in the current academic year alone. Another 1.6 million college and university-going students too are in queue to get the tablet.
Interestingly, the above endeavor brings to memory the One Laptop Per Child program which unfortunately had failed to meet its objective and has since been shelved. However, the One Tablet Per Student is based on a solid footing given that it is backed by the annual national budget of the country.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
