As the shift to online classes has become the norm in most schools with alternative delivery modes of learning kicking in each time severe weather conditions hit, a 20-percent discount on mobile prepaid load, mobile postpaid plans, and mobile internet packages for all enrolled Filipino students should be legislated to ease the learners’ burden.
With this in mind, Senator Erwin Tulfo is pushing for Senate Bill No. 2275 or the ‘Student Load Discount Act,’ to alleviate the financial burden on families struggling to keep up with the data demands of modern education.
‘We have to slash this added expense from students which too often prevents our students from keeping up with their online classes. This is our way to somehow level the playing field,’ Tulfo said. He added: ‘We cannot expect students, especially those who come from indigent families to seamlessly transition into digital learning without the government lending them a helping hand.’
Under the proposed legislation, the discount covers all Filipino citizens currently enrolled in authorized elementary, secondary, technical-vocational, or higher education institutions, excluding post-graduate studies.
The mandatory 20-percent price cut will remain available year-round, including weekends and holidays, ensuring continuous academic access.
To claim the discount, students need only present a valid school identification card or proof of enrollment alongside a birth certificate to verify citizenship.
Telecommunications companies will be legally required to grant the discount across all eligible services, with non-compliant providers facing strict penalties.
Tulfo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, pointed out that because of the adverse impacts of climate change and the lessons from the pandemic, the traditional concept of class suspensions has fundamentally changed.
‘Before, when classes are suspended, there were simply no classes. But this time around, most schools immediately shift to online modality to avoid academic backlogs,’ Tulfo said.
‘It is our duty in the government to guarantee access. A student’s potential to learn should never be halted simply because they cannot afford mobile data or an internet connection. No student must be left offline when everyone else should be online,’ he then concluded.