Senator Sherwin Gatchalian calls for faster installation of free Wi-Fi in public schools nationwide, emphasizing that only 860 or 1.8 percent of the 47,421 state-funded institutions are connected after enabling the law five years ago.
Under Senate Bill No. 3383 or the Digital Transformation in Basic Education Act, buildings will be escalated on their national infrastructure for information and communications technology (ICT).
The said bill will mandate the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in identifying locations for the construction of telecommunications tower sites, prioritizing missionary areas that are unconnected, unserved, or underserved.
According to Gatchalian, the chairperson of the Committee on Basic Education, the CoVID-19 pandemic highlighted the digital divide that mostly affected learners in poorer households.
Under his bill, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will help the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The measure also eyes to improve school capacity to bolster their ICT capacity in implementing distance learning and to boost the basic education sector towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In August 2017, the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act (Republic Act No. 10929).
