By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Moving beyond providing social protective services to government workers, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) marked Monday’s celebration of National Teachers’ Day by providing financial assistance to 30 public schools nationwide.
Under the agency’s Adopt-A-School Program (ASP), each beneficiary school may receive up to P400,000, which will cover furniture, technology and assistive learning devices, and other resources to facilitate online and face-to-face instruction.
The assistance amounting to P12 million also includes provisions for solar power systems, allotted for schools that run on limited or unreliable electricity.
GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso said of the initiative, “Through the Adopt-A-School Program, we are giving them the equipment and the steady power they need to teach well and giving their students a fair chance to learn.”
In collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd), the ASP provides teachers with additional equipment and a dependable power supply for them to fulfill their daily duties.
Public school teachers make up more than half of the two million-strong members of GSIS, which underscores the significance of providing them with better equipment and working conditions worthy of their hard work and sacrifices.
Schools eligible under ASP were handpicked by GSIS and DepEd, with both agencies coordinating with the heads of educational institutions that need technology and learning support the most.
The ASP is pursuant to GSIS Board Resolution No. 133, dated Sept. 26, 2023, which authorized the continued implementation of the program from 2024 to 2027.
The resolution sets a target of 30 schools a year, or 120 schools over four years, at P400,000 per school. This brings the program’s total approved allocation to P48 million, or P12 million a year.
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