Students in remote communities across Southern Leyte are gaining greater access to digital learning through the latest deployment of School-in-a-Bag (SIAB), a portable classroom initiative supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund, PLDT Inc., Smart Communications, Inc., the Department of Education Region VIII, and the Philippine Business for Social Progress. The latest rollout marks UNICEF’s fourth—and largest—deployment of School-in-a-Bag kits to date.
The initiative will benefit 97 multigrade schools in hard-to-reach areas throughout the province, providing students with interactive technology and digital learning resources that support literacy and numeracy, even in locations with limited internet connectivity. The deployment also reflects the long-standing partnership between UNICEF and the PLDT Group in making quality education more accessible and inclusive for Filipino learners.
Bringing technology closer to underserved learners
Jieun Yoon, an education specialist at UNICEF Philippines, said the initiative reflects UNICEF’s commitment to ensuring that every child has equal access to quality education, particularly for those living in marginalized communities.
“Our mandate is to ensure that every child has equal access to quality education, especially those who are in the most marginalized communities. We hope this support will help drive meaningful changes in classrooms. These devices are not meant to add to teachers’ burden, but to help ease their workload and improve the overall teaching and learning experience for both teachers and students.”
Since 2019, UNICEF and the PLDT Group have deployed more than 300 School-in-a-Bag kits to last-mile schools across the country, bringing technology-enabled learning opportunities to children in geographically isolated and underserved communities. The partners say the initiative reflects their shared vision that every child, regardless of location or circumstance, deserves equal access to quality basic education.
Supporting teachers in multigrade classrooms
Among this year’s beneficiaries is Benit Elementary School, located about 38 kilometers from Maasin City. The school is expected to benefit from the digital learning tools as teachers continue to manage multigrade classes despite limited personnel.
Roby A. Alampay, first vice president and head of the Public Engagement and Corporate Communications Group at PLDT and Smart, said the School-in-a-Bag initiative aims to place high-quality digital learning tools within children’s reach.
“With the School-in-a-Bag, we aim to ensure that high-quality digital tools are within children’s reach. We are grateful to have worked with UNICEF in reaching more remote schools in the region and bringing these portable digital classrooms directly to our learners.”
Merry Ann B. Tagon, teacher-in-charge of Benit Elementary School, said the kits would help teachers deliver lessons more effectively, particularly in multigrade classrooms.
“We are truly thankful to receive the SIAB funded by UNICEF. This is a big blessing for our learners, especially in multigrade classes where one teacher supports many students at once. With or without internet connectivity, teaching and learning can continue seamlessly because the kit also works offline. Our heartfelt thanks to UNICEF, PLDT, and Smart for helping us deliver accessible and continuous learning for our children.”
A portable digital classroom
Each School-in-a-Bag package contains a laptop, a Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi with load allocation, 10 tablets, a comprehensive teacher’s guide, and a collection of digital learning resources. These include contextualized Learning Activity Sheets and #LearnSmart educational applications designed to build literacy and numeracy skills in learners’ mother tongue.
The initiative forms part of the PLDT Group’s #KonektedForLearning program, which continues to bridge the digital divide through partnerships with organizations such as UNICEF. The project also supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Goal 4 on Quality Education by using technology to help create more inclusive learning opportunities for communities where access to educational resources remains limited.
In Summary
The latest School-in-a-Bag deployment brings portable digital classrooms to 97 multigrade schools in Southern Leyte, expanding access to technology-enabled education for students in remote communities. Through the partnership between UNICEF, PLDT, Smart, DepEd Region 8, and PBSP, the initiative continues to support inclusive learning and help bridge the digital divide for Filipino learners.