Three remote public schools in Ormoc, Leyte are this year’s first beneficiaries of School-in-a-Bag, an education program of Smart Communications (Smart), through a donation from the PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF).
Teachers and students from Hugpa Elementary School, Mahayahay Elementary School, and Inaad Elementary School are expected to benefit from mobile technology, 21st century teaching tools and educational content. Each Department of Education (DepEd) -nominated school will receive a digital learning package containing a teacher’s laptop, Smart pocket WiFi, projector, DVD player, and tablets.
More than merely donating gadgets, the tablets in every School-in-a-Bag unit are pre-loaded with interactive content to support learning strategies, as well as help preserve and promote local culture and heritage. Educational content includes Learn Smart mother-tongue based mobile applications developed in partnership with the DepEd and academic institutions nationwide: the Bahay KuboFilipino app, Kaalam Cebuano app, Taallam and Tahderiyyah Arabic apps, and Matigsalug app for the Matigsalug tribe of Davao and Bukidnon.
School-in-a-Bag beneficiary schools are also provided with teacher training and program evaluation.
Since 2016, Smart and partner donors such as PSF have donated 112 School-in-a-Bag units to various learning institutions nationwide, 83 of which were turned over in 2018. To date, the Program has benefitted more than thirty thousand students and over a thousand teachers in communities throughout the country.
PSF’s donation of School-in-a-Bag units is in line with the non-stock, non-profit organization’s direction to facilitate the empowerment of the Filipino people through the utilization of information and communications technology (ICT).
As the social outreach arm of the country’s largest telecommunications provider and its wireless subsidiary, PSF is keen in its pursuit for social, political, and economic development, through helpful communication tools and various avenues for progress and empowerment.
Headed by PLDT and Smart chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and Foundation president Esther O. Santos, PSF is presently involved with corporate social responsibility programs focused on six areas: education, livelihood and social enterprise, disaster response and recovery, youth and arts, and sports development. All these endeavors are committed to one singular goal: to fulfill the needs and uplift the lives of each and every Filipino.
For more details on PSF, visit www.pldtsmartfoundation.org or email [email protected]. Those interested in School-in-a-Bag may email [email protected] or visitwww.facebook.com/smartcommunities.