IT firms to help link schools to Internet

On Wednesday, an appeal was made by the Department of Education (DepEd) to private telecommunication companies to assist the drive to connect all public high schools to the Internet. Jesli Lapus, Education Secretary, mentioned that the government is grateful to the private sector's contribution to the education sector in recent years through its Adopt-A-School program and projects such as the Brigada Eskwela and the GILAS (Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students).

At present, 4,017 public high schools are already connected to the Internet, a little over a half or 2,020 of it through the initiative of the private sector mostly through the GILAS project. He added that programme offers only a one-year free Internet connection after which the DepEd has to shoulder the cost. Lapus put the amount at P300 million annually.