Championing the company’s core value of “malasakit” Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) is partnering with popular e-commerce sites Shopee, Lazada and Grab in raising funds that will help underprivilged students cope with the demands of distance learning.

“As another schoolyear under the COVID-19 pandemic opens, we are leaning on our technological expertise to come up with connectivity solutions and roll out programs that give students and teachers access to the new normal of education ensuring no learner is left behind,” said Jane J. Basas, SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.

From September 26 to 30, 2021, Smart is donating Php 50 for every purchase of PLDT Prepaid Home WiFi and Smart Bro Prepaid Pocket WiFi devices, as well as for every top up of Famload Video 599 to a special fund that will provide connectivity and learning solutions to student beneficiaries.

Working with Synergeia Foundation, Smart will distribute LearnSmart kits to students who are struggling with blended learning. The package comes with connectivity essentials like the Smart Bro LTE Pocket WiFi, the perfect companion for students and teachers in the shift to blended learning. It is versatile enough that users can connect to the internet anytime, anywhere.

Also included in the kit is a thumb drive that is preinstalled with Smart’s pandemic-resilient education tools like the Central Visayan Institute Foundation-Dynamic Learning Program (CVIF-DLP) Learning Activity Sheets, Maging Laging Handa materials, Smart’s eStorytelling video collection and SEAMEO INNOTECH’s Digital Citizenship e-book and learning packets.

With face-to-face classes still prohibited in the Philippines, schools are utilizing blended learning through broadcast media, printed modules and online platforms to continue education. However, students who are under financial constraints experience difficulties in transitioning to online learning.

PLDT and Smart provide access to inclusive quality education in basic to tertiary levels, through Information and Communications Technology (ICT), content, pedagogy, and capacity building to ensure that there is #NoLearnerLeftBehind. It is also a staunch advocate of ensuring cyber safety and creating safe spaces online.

PLDT and Smart enable learning communities through technology as part of its commitment to help the nation achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #4: Quality Education.