Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) – The Department of Information and Communications Technology will be turning thousands of internet cafes into digital classrooms and work areas as the country transitions into a “new normal” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are repurposing thousands of internet cafes. They can be reconfigured to become digital classrooms and digital workplaces,” DICT Undersecretary Eliseo Rio said Monday during the virtual hearing of the New Normal cluster of the House Defeat COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee.
The agency said it has sufficient funds to prioritize the establishment of “very fast and very low-cost internet” in barangays to help students and employees in need of connectivity.
“Kokonektahan na muna natin itong mga community para pwede na hong lakarin ng mga nearby sa community na iyan para makapag-aral at trabaho sila dito sa repurposed internet cafes,” Rio told the committee led by Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda of Antique.
[Translation: We will first put up connection in communities so that those who live nearby can just walk the distance in order to study and work in these repurposed internet cafes.]
He said the agency will mobilize internet service providers that could improve the connectivity in these digital classrooms and workspaces.
Rio added that they are also working on increasing internet speed to over 3,600 schools before classes open in June.
Less than 50 percent of public schools in the country have a reliable internet connection, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said during the hearing.
In a Senate hearing last week, DepEd reiterated that face-to-face learning will still be prohibited in areas considered to have moderate to high risk of COVID-19 contamination when classes resume on August 24.
House Bill No. 6623 or the New Normal for the Workplace and Public Spaces Act of 2020, which was earlier filed on April 27, seeks to establish safety measures and protocols in place as the country adjusts to the “new normal” in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the measure, public and private education institutions must prioritize the establishment of online platforms of learning, instruction, and evaluation.
The measure also requires that rotational, staggered, and work-from-home operations among employees must be detailed in the new normal workforce and workplace management plan.
It also contains universal and mandatory guidelines, such as wearing of masks in public places and workplaces, physical and social distancing, as well as mandatory temperature checks in all closed and semi-closed areas.
Aside from Legarda, co-authors of the bill are House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Deputy Speakers Luis Raymund Villafuerte and Paolo Duterte, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Yap, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor and Bulacan Rep. Jonathan Sy-Alvarado.
CNN Philippines Correspondent Xianne Arcangel contributed to this report.
