The city government of Valenzuela has distributed some 24,000 tablets to public elementary and high school students which they can use for online classes amid the prevailing pandemic.

“After going through a strict and stringent procurement process, as well as importation process, this week, we will release 24,000 smartphones to our students in our public schools who stated that they do not have any handheld device during enrollment,” Mayor Rex Gatchalian said in a statement on Thursday.

Based on the 2020 enrollment declaration by the city’s Department of Education (DepEd), it was found that about 24,000 out of 130,000 public elementary and high school learners in Valenzuela do not have a smartphone or a gadget to be used for their online classes during the public health crisis.

With this, the city government has allocated PHP69 million to buy gadgets to be distributed to selected learners in Valenzuela.

“The distributed tablets can be used for watching lessons in the City’s very own Valenzuela LIVE Online Streaming School, as well as catching up with their lessons and watching educational videos,” the city said.

It said the initiative is part of the city’s Education 360 Degrees Investment Program aimed at providing education supplies to underprivileged students.

“Making sure that no student is left behind in quality education,” it added. (PNA)