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By Jonathan M. Hicap Reporter
PUBLIC-school teachers want
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to scrap the P26.48-billion
Cyber-Education Project and instead focus on undertaking basic
reforms like solving the shortages in textbooks, teachers and
classrooms and increasing the salary of teachers.
Last Saturday, Malacañang
announced the suspension of the project together with the national
broadband network (NBN) deal in response to allegations of
irregularity and high-level corruption surrounding it. Both projects
are to be funded by a $1.8-billion loan from China.
Antonio Tinio, chairman of the
Alliance of Concerned Teachers, said that while they welcomed the
suspension of cyber-education, they want Lapus to finally scrap the
deal. Public-school teachers on Tuesday picketed the Department of
Education Central Office in Pasig to air their concerns on the
issue.
“Unlike the so-called
suspension of the NBN deal, which is covered by a temporary
restraining order from the Supreme Court, the Malacañang directive
has the real effect of postponing the granting or bidding out of the
supply contract for the Cyber-Ed Project. However, nothing prevents
them from reviving the project once the controversy dies down. We
won’t be satisfied until the Cyber-Ed deal is cancelled
outright,” Tinio said.
The project will provide schools
with multimedia classrooms that will enable them to receive live
broadcasts of lectures using satellite technology. Critics have
called it an overpriced and extravagant “white elephant”
project.
Tinio said that if the government
pushes ahead with the project, the main beneficiaries would be the
still-unnamed Chinese contractor and Mabuhay Satellite Corp., which
runs the Agila2 satellite.
“These companies will
definitely rake in huge profits from the taxpayers’ pockets,” he
said.
Tinio added, “We advise
Secretary Lapus to take his sadly misplaced enthusiasm and zeal for
the Cyber-Ed Project and devote it instead to lobbying Congress for
higher salaries for teachers, elimination of teacher, classroom and
textbook shortages, abolition of fees in public schools, and direct
subsidies to poor children who are most at risk of dropping out.”
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