Sen. Grace Poe commemorated the 81st birth anniversary of her father, the late National Artist Fernando Poe Jr., with donations of 50 tablets to help needy students cope with the shift to online and blended learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Poe turned over the gadgets to the Don Quintin Paredes High School in Quezon City for distribution to students. The school’s principal, Ernest Ferrer Jr., received the donations from the senator who was accompanied by her son and chief of staff Brian Poe Llamanzares and Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto.
“We need to provide disadvantaged students the learning tools so they will not risk falling behind amid the rise of online education. As the nation deals with the pandemic, it is crucial to ensure that this crisis encourages innovation and inclusion, and does not compound learning inequalities,” Poe stressed.
Poe gave away local brand Cherry Mobile tablets, which came at a critical time as schools intensify preparations for the new modes of learning.
Face-to-face classes have been ruled out this year due to COVID-19, and the Department of Education has turned to alternative delivery modalities under distance learning this coming school year, start of which has been moved to Oct. 5 for public schools.
The senator said linking with groups and individuals with common goals to help the disadvantaged was also FPJ’s advocacy.
“FPJ’s lessons and values have been my guiding light—to serve selflessly and make a difference in the Filipino people’s lives,” Poe said.