September 28, 2021— In preparation for the upcoming 2022 Elections, the Department of Education (DepEd) is urging teachers and personnel who have not yet signed up for the Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure (PNPKI) to register through DepEd Learning Management System (LMS).

“During election season, data security is our biggest priority. We are thankful for the DICT as they allowed us to fast-track our registration for PNPKI to ensure the safety of our public school teachers in the elections next year,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones shared.

As of September 20, 2021, 537,654 or 53% of all DepEd teaching and non-teaching personnel have submitted their application.

Out of these applications, 362,572 or 36% of the total number have been validated by the personnel officer and are ready for submission to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

The PNPKI digital signature is a new requirement by the Commission of Elections (Comelec) for all public school teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members. Available to all government employees, agencies, and private individuals, the PNPKI is a virtual key that lets its users encrypt or conceal data into a code and embed important transactions like email exchange in order to protect it from hackers.  The PNPKI fosters trust in government agencies as it promises secure transactions with the public.

The PNPKI key or certificate can be obtained by applying. They are very small files, recommended by the DICT to be stored in USB flash disk, that can be downloaded to a computer and activated in certain applications or transactions where security is the highest priority.

The Department is urging those who have not yet register to sign up before the deadline on September 30, 2021.

Currently, Region IV-A CALABARZON leads the most number of applications submitted in a region with 86,181, followed by Region VII with 70,125 and Region V with 55,998 submitted personnel applications.

For Schools Division Offices, SDO Tanjay City in Region VII ranks first among all Division Offices with the most number of validated applications at 106% followed by Alaminos City and Ilocos Sur of Region I with both 98%.

The PNPKI digital signature is a new requirement by the Commission of Elections (Comelec) for all public school teachers who will serve as Electoral Board Members.

In partnership with DICT, DepEd was able to fast-track the registration of teachers and personnel with the DepEd LMS 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.

To register and for more information, proceed to http://bit.ly/Deped-PNPKI and fill out the application form for the PNPKI certification before the deadline.

END