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Tens of thousands of teachers lack gadgets and internet connection needed for online classes during the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Education said Tuesday.

Out of almost 700,000 teachers nationwide who answered a recent DepEd survey, 87 percent have laptops or computers at home and 13 percent have none, said Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan.

Among those who have gadgets, only 41 percent have internet connection, 49 have internet signal in their area but no connection of their own, and 10 percent lack both, he said.

The DepEd is also assessing the capacity of students to attend online classes through a survey included in their enrollment forms, said Malaluan.

• DepEd to implement ‘drop box enrollment’ starting June 16

The agency is preparing printed learning modules for students who cannot join online classes.

• No need to buy gadgets: DepEd says to provide printed modules
• DepEd to have 1.3M tablets, computers in 2020 as education sector shifts to COVID-19 new normal

"Hinihikayat natin na huwag na silang magpahuli ng pag-i-enroll dahil nakasalalay dito iyong aming pagpoporma rin ng ating learning resources — kung gaanong karami ang printed modules, o kung ano ang digital," he said in an interview with ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

(We are encouraging them not to delay their enrollment because our allocation of learning resources will depend here — how many modules should be printed or digital.)

The Philippines last year had some 27 million students in public and private schools, from kindergarten to senior high school. Some 11.3 million public school students have enrolled for the coming school year, ahead of the June 30 deadline, said Malaluan.