The Department of Education is set to launch its digitalization program early next year, its spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa said yesterday.

"We will start this [digital education] in 2024," Poa told the DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview.

Poa said they have already started the procurement of e-learning carts or mobile computer labs for public schools.

Apart from this, the DepEd also wants to have learning resources that have digital copies.

"We need to procure textbooks for the new curriculum. We are now discussing it with the publisher, and we tell them our need for digital copies," Poa said.

"So, aside from the hard copies of textbooks, we also have digital copies that we will put in our portal. With this, our learners can access learning resources wherever they are, and they can continue studying even if there is a typhoon through blended learning. We are targeting to provide digital infrastructure to every school," he added.

The DepEd will also improve internet connection in all schools with the help of internet providers, Poa said.

He said the agency has set aside funding for internet connectivity.

"In remote areas, we have satellites that provide internet connectivity to the schools," he said.

According to Poa, around 69 percent of the public schools already have internet.

"But this is not school wide, meaning mostly only the faculty or certain areas of the schools have internet," he explained.

"So, what we want to do now is make our internet connectivity school wide. We call it school-wide WiFi," Poa said.

He said the school-wide WiFi will be rolled out also next year.

"We will roll out this in 2024 if we want to have better internet connectivity for all our schools by the end of the year," he said.