LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial government recently turned over some one thousand two hundred nine tablets to the Schools Division of Benguet purposely for the digital learning needs of indigent learners from the different public schools provincewide.
Gov. Melchor D. Diclas led provincial officials in turning over to education officials the said tablets which will be provided to identified indigent students for them to use as part of enhancing their methodologies and empowering them to pursue their studies and acquire higher level of learning.
Earlier, Rep. Eric Yap source out some PhP10.9 million from the State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) for the procurement of the digital learning tools to help indigent students pursue their studies through the various means provided by the education department.
This fund was subsequently downloaded to the provincial government which facilitated the procurement process until the tablets were delivered and turned over to the agency that will handle the distribution of the tablets to the identified beneficiaries in the various public learning institutions.
The governor acknowledged the dedicated efforts of Rep. Yap in sourcing out the funds from the PAGCOR which is instrumental in improving the digital learning strategies of indigent learners who have difficulty in accessing additional tools for them to hurdle basic education and advance to a higher level of learning.
Of the donated funds, Diclas claimed that there is still some PhP4.3 million balance from the purchase of the tablets which will be used to procure additional tablets once the need by the indigent learners shall have been ascertained by the education department so that these will be given out to them for their regular use in their studies.
The governor underscored the importance of close collaboration among both the executive and legislative branches of government in sustaining the implementation of high impact development projects in their areas of jurisdiction and enhancing the delivery of basic services vital in providing the needs of people.
For his part, Yap assured that the effective collaboration between his office and the provincial government will be sustained to sustain the gains that Benguet achieved over the past several years where unity and teamwork played a pivotal role in improving the previous state of the province before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yap envisions Benguet to be one of the most developed provinces in the country with the current pace of development that it is undergoing through the consolidated efforts of his office and that of the provincial government in close coordination with government line agencies so that the province gets a fair share from the resources of the national government.
At present, Benguet is classified a second class province despite its being a first class local government with the enormous development projects that are being implemented provincewide through the past several years. By Dexter A. See
