Public schools in Manila will officially join the digital age next year with the acquisition of information technology equipment and the introduction of digitized methods of governance, Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada said.
With today’s increasing demand for IT professionals and computer-skilled workers, Estrada said he wants every young student in Manila to be educated and trained in a technology-driven school environment.
“Next year, a digitized system of governance, management and operations will be introduced in our school system,” Estrada told the students and faculty members of Bacood Elementary School in Sta. Mesa during the inauguration of the new City Hall-funded covered quadrangle of the school.
“This will prepare Manila’s public schools for IT integration,” he said.
The covered quadrangle is part of the Estrada administration’s school infrastructure projects worth a total of P264.29 million, scheduled to be completed within the year.
In addition, Estrada also pledged to provide more audio-visual IT equipment to the 33 public high schools and 73 elementary schools in Manila.
Among these are 5,100 units of LCD projectors with whiteboards, which he said have already been procured and are ready for delivery; each classroom will have one.
“We also now have 500 units of desktop computers, copiers, and TVL [technical, vocational, livelihood] tools and equipment, sound system, and tablet armchairs for newly constructed classrooms,” Estrada added.
The digitized system of governance, on the other hand, will make classroom instructions and the management and administration of public school institutions at par with exclusive private schools using the latest and most advanced technology.
Education is one of Estrada’s priority programs. For 2017, he has allocated more than P2 billion to the city’s Special Educational Fund to finance the construction of additional school infrastructures and other related programs.
In 2016 alone, Estrada constructed and repaired 45 school buildings in various public elementary and secondary schools in the city totaling P2.54 billion to further improve the quality of education being given to poor students.
Of the 45 school building projects, 13 were new ones worth a total of P828.23 million; the rest were repair and rehabilitation works worth P1.72 billion, according to the Office of the City Engineer.
In 2015, the mayor also completed 44 school infrastructure projects—32 of which have been completed—with a total project cost of P1.49 billion. In two years, the city government completed 87 school building projects with total project costs of P4.03 billion.
Also, it was only during Estrada’s term that Manila public school teachers had their monthly allowances from the city government increased from P2,000 to P3,000.
Estrada has also distributed computer tablets with installed instructional materials to some 11,000 teachers to enable them to further improve their classroom instructions.
For 2017, Estrada has set aside P7.3 million as cash incentive for the Top 5 percent of the graduating classes and Top 3 percent of current Grades 7 and 6 students, according to Division of City Schools-Manila Superintendent Wilfredo Cabral.
A total of 1,189 students received the cash gifts, including those who graduated last March. First honor students were given P10,000; P7,000 for second; P6,000 for the third; and P5,000 and P4,000 for the fourth and fifth honors.