Public school students get laptops from Smart, P&G

MANILA, Philippines - Two girls are hunched outside their classroom in Manuel Quezon Elementary school, a public school in Tondo, Manila with a student population of 4,972 children.

The scorching sun bears down on them but the kids are unmindful, their eyes are transfixed on an object 10 inches square, green, white and rubberized, inscribed with the logo of an X and a filled-in O.

The children test the laptop’s Google, games and even FaceBook and laugh as they take pictures with the laptop’s camera.

These students are the first beneficiaries of the e.Studyante program, an e-learning advocacy program of P&G Philippines in partnership with Smart Communications and the Synergeia Foundation.

The e.Studyante program will provide beneficiary school children with child-friendly laptops from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the organization that develops and supplies the computers, and Internet connectivity from Smart.

Chad Sotelo, P&G Country and Marketing Manager, says the laptops will create educational opportunities for the country’s poorest children via a low-cost, low-power laptop that has Internet connectivity.

“These child-friendly laptops were designed for use in developing countries to help empower the world’s poorest children through education. They are not only very durable and energy-efficient, they also come with learning software for kids. Through these laptops, students become more engaged and involved in school. The learning process becomes more-student focused as they learn to discover new things for themselves and share ideas with each other,” Sotelo said.

“We intend for this to complement traditional learning methods and tools instead of competing with them. A laptop and Internet connectivity becomes their window to the world’s knowledge and places it at their fingertips in real time. People and places they had no access to before are now within their reach. These tools expand their horizons and minds, and encourages them to dream and attain a brighter future,” he stresses.

Ramon Isberto, head of Smart’s Public Affairs group, shares Sotelo’s view, adding “exposure to the Internet expands their horizons and affords them opportunities later in life.”

“Smart has always been supportive of programs that aim to improve the quality of education through ICT. We hope the Internet connectivity we provide makes learning easier and information accessible to more children,” Isberto says.

Sotelo says they plan to give 400 laptops to different schools nationwide in the country’s remote areas. They are targeting to give 1,000,0000 laptops over 24 years, to coincide with P&G’s centennial anniversary in the Philippines.