Teachers without laptops top priority in DepEd rollout
“We want to ensure these laptops go to teachers who can maximize them most for teaching and learning, while keeping equity at the center by prioritizing teachers who have never received a government- or school-issued laptop,” Education Secretary Sonny Angara said in a statement on Saturday.
According to DepEd, the distribution will begin in schools that are first-time recipients of the laptops.
Teachers who had not been issued laptops between Jan. 1, 2023, and Nov. 6 this year must have an active teaching assignment and a DepEd account to be eligible as recipients.
“These guidelines set clear rules so schools can select recipients fairly and transparently,” Angara said.
Other priority groups
An open bidding on Nov. 3 led to the procurement of laptops comprising 169,008 Mac-based and 62,717 Windows-based units for teachers and 3,646 Mac-based units for school administration officers.
Also to be given priority are previous recipients with damaged units caused by calamities or declared unserviceable, and those who lost their units to theft.
The department said the distribution of the laptops will be according to teacher counts across regions, divisions and schools.
It further clarified that teachers owning or sharing equipment are not automatically disqualified from getting laptops.
“Seniority and nonteaching duties do not grant priority,” the agency also said. “If a priority group exceeds remaining units, schools must conduct a witnessed drawing of lots manually or through the Teacher Assignment for Laptop Allocation (Tala) system.”
The lists of recipients must be submitted through DepEd’s website at tala.deped.gov.ph by Nov. 15.
