13 San Juan City public schools install free internet, smart TVs

All thirteen public schools in San Juan City have adapted technology as a tool for instruction after free fiber optic internet connections and 55-inch smart TVs were installed in their classrooms, Mayor Francis Zamora said Tuesday.

Zamora, along with Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, attended the launch of the initiative at the Pinaglabanan Elementary School and observed the use of these technologies as modes of teaching and learning.

According to the city mayor, around 13,000 public school students were given free tablets in 2020 in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), while the Grades 3 to 6 students of Pinaglabanan Elementary School received free laptops.

The public school teachers were likewise provided with laptops and WiFi connections to help with their teaching even in an online learning environment.

“Ang paraan ng pagtuturo ay digital na. Hindi na kinakailangan gumamit ng blackboard, hindi na kinakailangan gumamit ng cartolina o manila paper. Pwede nang magturo gamit ang smart TVs, and tablets, ang laptops, cellphones sapagkat meron tayong mabilis at maasahang internet,” Zamora said.

(The teaching method is now digital. It is no longer necessary to use a blackboard, cardboard, or manila paper. Teachers can now teach using smart TVs, tablets, laptops, cellphones because we have fast and reliable internet.)

He also pointed out that free fiber optic internet connections were installed in around 7,000 households of city public school students.

Duterte commended these developments, saying that she wanted these replicated in other public schools in the country as well.

“Yes. Sabi ko nga, ‘yan ang pangarap ng Department of Education para sa lahat ng ating paaralan,” she said in an ambush interview.

(Yes. As I said, that is the dream of the Department of Education for all our schools.)

“Pero sa ngayon, ang direksyon natin ay mixed—merong mga schools na hindi talaga kakayanin ang internet connection dahil wala ‘yung capacity doon sa kanilang lugar, wala ring signal, wala ‘yung infrastructure. Kaya ang direksyon natin ay hati—meron tayong online at meron tayong pinu-pursue na offline din para nase-serve natin lahat ng lahat ng sitwasyon sa ating mga paaralan,” she added.

(But right now, our direction is mixed—some schools cannot handle the internet connection because there is no capacity in their area, no signal, no infrastructure. So our direction is divided into two—we have online and we are pursuing offline as well so that we can serve all the situations in our schools.)

Furthermore, Duterte also handed out sets of school and PE uniforms to select students of Pinaglabanan Elementary School, courtesy of the San Juan local government unit.

Zamora said each public school student in the city will receive two sets of school uniforms and a PE uniform set.

The Vice President thanked the LGU for its “unceasing commitment to provide better quality of education among the youth through initiatives that promote an improved quality of learning.”

“Alam niyo, as a former mayor ng siyudad ng Davao, naiinggit ako dahil nabibigay ng buo at nabibigay lahat ng ating local government unit dito sa San Juan ang mga kailangan o prayoridad ng ating mga learners,” Duterte said.

(As a former mayor of the city of Davao, I am envious because our local government unit here in San Juan can fully provide for the needs or priorities of our learners.) — DVM, GMA Integrated News