​

November 3, 2021 – The Department of Education (DepEd) is continuously providing connectivity assistance to public school teachers in their blended learning setup for School Year 2021-2022.

Under the DepEd SIM Card and Connectivity Load Program, we have provided our teachers with SIM cards with 34GB connectivity load per month. According to our analytics consumption tests, the 1GB per day for 30 days is enough to access e-learning, and whitelisted or zero-rated DepEd applications. It can also support eight (8) hours of video conferencing.

In addition, the Department proactively requested the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in 2020 for the possibility of granting internet allowance in cash, which will require almost Php 18 billion in public funds. Under the current budget of DepEd, there is no existing legal basis and fund cover for such “monthly internet/connectivity allowance”. Per Commission on Audit (COA) Circular No. 2013-003, all payments without legal basis will be disallowed in audit by the Commission.

We will continue to work with involved agencies and stakeholders to ensure that our teachers are afforded with such support moving forward.

END