Solon urges telcos to build cell sites in public schools

SENATOR SHERWIN  Gatchalian on Tuesday urged telecommunication companies to install cell sites in every public school in the country to ensure nationwide internet access and, more importantly, strengthen the country’s education system.

"We hit two birds with one stone. Since most, if not all, barangays nationwide have a public school, these schools provide viable spots for cell sites that would ensure nationwide internet access,” the chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture said.

“This proposal would also help accelerate the installation of free Wi-fi hotspots in the country's public places, which would boost the capacity of schools to utilize distance learning in emergencies like the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic,” Gatchalian said.

He said building cell sites within school premises ensures that public schools have a good internet connection, and would save them billions of pesos in internet connection fees in the long run.

Citing records from the Department of Education (DepEd), he noted that 58 percent of elementary schools, 80 percent of junior high schools, and 72 percent of senior high schools are connected to the internet.

However, he pointed out that based on a mapping of public schools and cell site towers by Project Bandwidth and Signal Statistics (BASS), 44 percent or 20,398 public schools were found to be located more than six kilometers away from the nearest cell site, which means they have either “very poor or no access to the internet.”

The ideal distance for a school to the closest cell site should not be more than three kilometers to get a good internet connection, the lawmaker said.

"Moving forward, kahit wala nang Covid-19, importante ring pagsikapan nating maabot ang bawat isang kabahayan gamit ang internet, at mabigyan natin ang mga bata ng kagamitan, mga gadgets, para magamit nila sa pag-aaral (even if Covid-19 is gone, it is also important that we endeavor to provide internet access to each household, and provide gadgets for our students for their education)," Gatchalian said.

“Bridging the digital divide will help the country's education system to innovate and ensure that no learner is left behind,” he added. (By Jose Cielito Reganit)