Teachers who will be holding their classes online for the school year 2020-2021 can use their chalk allowance to pay for their internet connection fees, Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Monday.

“Mayroon silang (They have) allowance for chalk which has been increased, maybe their expenses for chalk can be used for other necessary fees,” Briones said in a virtual press briefing.

Apart from the chalk allowance, Briones said schools could make use of their budget for their maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to help the teachers adjust to the “new normal” in schools.

“May MOOE naman…which are held by the principals. May pera sila at their level kasi binibigyan sila ng autonomy to spend as they wish (There’s MOOE which are held by the principals. They have budget in their levels because they’re given autonomy to spend as they wish,” she added.

Earlier, Briones said the Department of Education (DepEd) has negotiated with Smart and Globe to provide teachers and learners free connection to access the DepEd Commons without incurring data charges.

“Nag-commit na sila na hindi nila pababayaran ‘yun, ma-spare man ang teachers (They [Globe and Smart] have committed so the teachers will be spared from connection fees),” she added.

To protect the health and safety of learners and teachers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the DepEd stressed that face-to-face learning shall only be allowed in places not under quarantine.

The DepEd will implement the adoption of different learning delivery options such as face-to-face blended with distance learnings, and homeschooling and other modes of delivery following the local “Covid Risk Severity Classification and compliance with the minimum health standards”. (PNA)

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