“The Lack of Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure”

The pandemic not only increased the burden on teachers, but also emphasized the poor state of ICT infrastructure in the Philippines. As of September 2021, more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 47% of public school students who live in rural areas did not have access to the internet due to a combination of instable connections and soaring prices. Now that an internet connection has become a necessary part of our lives, many Philippine families are finding it difficult to educate their children without it. This combination of a poor learning environment due to the lack of teachers and the inability to access education has resulted in a sharp decrease in school enrollments. In fact, more than 3 million students have dropped out of school since the pandemic, and still to this day remain unenrolled in school.

The Philippines needs to focus on improving access to education by increasing accessibility to the internet. The number of teachers, the number of students, and the quality of the education provided are meaningless if the student cannot secure access to education. In order to ensure that the remaining students who are still enrolled in school can access their education, we need to improve internet infrastructure.

Globe and PLDT Duopoly

Currently, the Philippines only has two main internet service providers as a result of the lack of competition in the industry. With the way the law is written, it is difficult for new companies to become internet service providers due to the mass amount of capital needed to fulfill the requirements as stated. According to Republic Act 7925, if a startup wanted to become an internet service provider, they would need to establish 400,000 telephone lines within 3 years, otherwise, their authority faces being terminated. Therefore, this acts as a barrier for new companies to enter the market due to the amount of money needed to set up the large amount of telephone lines.

Slow ICT Development

Currently, the Philippines has 18,000 cell towers, and in order to catch up with other countries, they need to build 50,000 more cell towers. A cell tower is a tall structure that connects the cell providers’ subscribers to wireless internet, and therefore allows for faster internet speeds due to a decrease in network congestion per tower. Since most of the 8 months in trying to build a single cell cite are spent trying to secure the mass amount of government permits required, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is trying to shorten this period to just 9 days by decreasing the number of permits needed.

Future outlook

The future of public education is here now and it is online. Now that the new normal has introduced a new form of education to be taught remotely, more children should have access to education as long as they have access to the internet. The Philippines can increase access to the internet by easing regulations required to become an internet service provider and by developing more cell towers, therefore improving ICT infrastructure. Increasing accessibility to learning in the public education system is one of the many things we can do to create a sustainable education system and also the economy.