The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) is not satisfied with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) plan to simply repair the complained slow laptops issued to teachers.
In an interview with Teleradyo on Wednesday night, TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said it is still not enough to repair or replace the laptops.
For Basas, it is still necessary to investigate carefully if anyone should be responsible for the purchase of the laptops described in the Commission on Audit (COA) report as “pricey” or expensive but “outdated.”
“Napaka-importante talaga na magkaroon talaga dito ng impartial at malalimang investigation,” said Basas.
Meanwhile, this Thursday morning, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers protested in front of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) office in Manila regarding purchasing laptops.
The Procurement Service of DBM or PS-DBM did the procurement of the laptop for DepEd.
Teachers group lament DepEd’s defective laptops
DepEd earlier said that if it proves that the laptops issued are indeed slow, it will insist on the warranty provision where the specification can be upgraded or the laptops replaced.
In a separate interview, DepEd promised that they would focus on the issue and find out what really happened in the purchase of the allegedly overpriced laptops.
According to DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa, they are just waiting for the corresponding documents from PS-DBM to answer the COA issue.
The Department of Education (DepEd) purchased P2.4-billion worth of laptops for teachers in connection with the 2021 distance learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Units that are “entry-level,” “outdated,” and “expensive” have been criticized by teachers.
This is what appears in the 2021 annual audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA) in DepEd. It is said to have been purchased through the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM-PS), although there are many cheaper and better options on the market.
Due to the higher price of the purchased laptops (P58,300), many teachers did not benefit from it, numbering 28,917, COA said. Intel Celeron is said to be the processor of computers.
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