‘School-in-a-bag’ project launched

MANILA, Philippines – A single bag can go a long way in public schools that have limited access to electricity and internet connectivity.

Smart Communications recently launched a mobile school package that individuals and organizations can sponsor for far-flung public schools across the country.

“For so long, the Philippines has been divided by geography. This makes access to information extremely hard,” Smart vice president for community partnerships Darwin Flores said.

“Smart wants to unite the islands through internet connectivity. We go to schools in mountains, on isolated islands, places where there is no electricity, to bring School-in-a-Bag,” he added.

Each bag costs P100,000 and contains a solar panel for electricity, a laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone, a pocket Wi-Fi with starter load, LED TV, and learning modules.

The Department of Education said the project is in line with the commitment of DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones to expand the delivery of basic education to geographically challenging locations and disadvantaged communities.

“Disadvantaged school children need opportunities that will get them out of poverty,” DepEd external partnerships service director Margarita Ballesteros said during the launch of the project on Wednesday.

This year, Smart will sponsor 10 bags that will be provided to select schools in remote areas of the country.

Among the beneficiaries of the initial wave of sponsorships of the project is the Rawang Elementary School, located in a remote area in Tanay, Rizal that has no electricity connection.

Maria Asuncion Tongohan, a kindergarten and grade one teacher in the school, said the learning process in Rawang has improved after they received the mobile package in July.

“We really don’t have electricity here so when we saw the solar panel, we realized we could use technology in teaching,” she said.

“We can discuss the subjects more thoroughly with them because there’s a visual component in the lecture. Instead of us just talking or drawing on the blackboard, the videos make it more interesting for them – especially for the little kids who like colorful visuals,” added Tongohan.

The mobile package enables teachers to download more education materials with the electricity and internet connection.

Smart said educators can also use Batibot mobile application pre-installed in the tablet that is part of the package.

Smart previously developed the Filipino learning app aligned with the national kindergarten curriculum of the DepEd.

The school-in-a-bag is a follow-up to Smart’s previous project, the TechnoCart, an education package containing tablets and other learning materials that can be used by students.

“This is part of our digital inclusion efforts. We want to enable children in the most remote areas to participate in the global knowledge economy. There’s so much to learn out there, and these technology and communication tools will help them gain access to this wealth of information,” Flores said.

Individuals and organizations interested in sponsoring school-in-a-bag packages are encouraged to send an email to [email protected], Smart said.