MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday reminded teachers that the newly procured MacBook Neo laptops given to them are government property and cannot be sold.
The DepEd rolled out the nationwide distribution of 172,654 MacBook Neo laptops, comprising 169,008 units for teachers and 3,646 units for administrative staff, along with 62,717 Windows-based laptops.
At a Palace briefing, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara assured stringent measures to ensure that these laptops will not be sold.
“Government property iyon. Kapag ibinenta ho nila iyon, babayaran nila iyon (That’s government property. If they sell it, they will have to pay for it),” he said.
This means all laptops remain as government property assigned through official accountability records to prevent illegal sales, pawning, or unauthorized transfers.
The education chief also said each school with MacBook Neo allotment has its respective custodian for the units.
“The IT (information technology) officer – each school has an IT officer, parang siya ‘yung custodian nung IT equipment sa (they are somehow the custodian of IT equipment at their) school,” Angara added.
Under the Mobile Device Management (MDM) system, all laptop units are enrolled to ensure that authorities can remotely lock or disable stolen or illegally sold devices.
Violators may also face administrative and criminal charges.
Angara, meanwhile, cited priority schools and areas for the nationwide distribution of the newly procured laptops.
“Tinitingnan ho natin in the last few years sino iyong mga nakatanggap uunahin natin iyong mga schools na walang allotment, so, iyon ang priority (We are looking at the last few years schools which have not received allotment, so, that’s the priority),” he said.
Besides these, schools with IT and Educational Technology (EdTech) programs will also be prioritized, including those using Khan Academy.
Khan Academy Philippines provides select basic education schools with free education courses, alongside artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tutor Khanmigo which assists both learners and teachers.
For schools with no electricity and internet connections, Angara said the agency is intensifying its electrification and solarization efforts in partnership with other agencies to provide teachers with similar access to these technologies under the massive computerization program underway. (Stephanie Sevillano/PNA)
