PASIG CITY -- After the successful distribution of sim cards to field offices, the Department of Education (DepEd) has announced the start of the cycle for regular monthly loads for teachers and personnel.

For the 277,381 DepEd sim cards recipients who have started using connectivity loads in July 2021, the cycle of regular monthly load started on August 3, while the rest of the program beneficiaries will have their monthly load on August 25. 

“This is part of our commitment to deliver the promises of the Bayanihan 2 Act to our personnel. Given the situation, we recognize the need to provide connectivity load for our teachers as support for their passion in teaching amidst the pandemic,” Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.

In total, each teacher or personnel will receive a total of 102GB of data that will be rationed over three months at 34GB per month.

To ensure optimum usage, DepEd noted that the Sim Card and Connectivity Load program is designed to have 1GB per day for Daily Data Access specific for eLearning Apps and zero-rated DepEd Apps. An additional 4GB per month is provided for Open Data Access for other apps.

The load will not be dumped on the same day but refreshed daily to ensure that personnel can maximize the data for the whole month.

“Analytics consumption data show that 1GB per day for 30 days is more than enough to access eLearning apps,” added Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua.

Additionally, unused data from the plan will be rolled over after the third month and will be loaded as one (1) GB per day until all data allocations are consumed. Unused data must be utilized before its one-year expiration.

Usec. Pascua also shared that an exclusive DepEd Hotline (#DEPED or #33733) has been set up for the DepEd sim card recipients to address concerns of teachers regarding the program.

Meanwhile, DepEd officials and personnel with existing communication subscriptions and allowances are not eligible to be recipients of the sim card and connectivity allowances.

For signal coverage concerns, personnel may contact DepEdcare@deped.gov.ph or dial #33733 and press 1 for assistance. (DepEd)