MVP-led companies, MPT Mobility, PLDT, and Smart, turn over School-in-a-Bag to Baguio and Cebu beneficiaries

PHOTO: Students of ASFFPI with their School-in-a-bag package.

MPT Mobility was born out of the idea of helping to elevate Filipinos’ travel experience through smart technology solutions and services. At its very core, MPT Mobility is about addressing the gaps between people and their ability to live freely—from being able to go to where they need to be, to being able to meet their needs and getting help during emergencies.

As a key thrust in its corporate social responsibility undertakings, it is only fitting that MPT Mobility’s latest endeavor is to bridge another gap in society. A gap that is arguably the most impactful to our society’s future: students’ access to education, especially those in remote areas.

MPT Mobility looked within the MVP Group of Companies for a technology-enabled solution that brings inclusive quality education to learners in geographically challenged communities. The company collaborated with PLDT and Smart for the crisis-resilient “School-in-a-Bag.”

School-in-a-Bag is a portable digital classroom that allows remote learning in last-mile schools and complements the Department of Education’s curriculum. Each package contains a laptop and 10 tablets pre-loaded with DepEd curriculum-based learning materials, mobile Wi-Fi, and expandable storage devices. It is also inclusive of teacher training and year-long monitoring support. 

“The contents of School-in-a-Bag are carefully curated to ensure that quality education and smart technology go hand-in-hand for the purpose of enriching our learners with knowledge and skills that would benefit them in the future,” MPT Mobility Director, Rodrigo Franco said of their project. “Through the School-in-a-Bag project, we hope to not only level the playing field for our learners but also pave the way for our country’s greatest hope and future.”

Cathy Yang, FVP and Group Head of Corporate Communications at PLDT and Smart also said, “The School-in-a-Bag highlights our use of technology to ensure that no learner is left behind. PLDT and Smart are always ready to collaborate with our ‘kapatids’  to improve learning outcomes for students, as we all lend a hand in building a ‘matatag na bayan’  for all Filipinos.”

For this year’s edition, MPT Mobility chose Sto. Tomas Elementary School in Baguio City and Albert Schweitzer Familienwerk Foundation Philippines, Inc. (ASFFPI) in Cordova, Cebu as its beneficiaries.

Sto. Tomas Elementary School is located on the fringes of Baguio City, on the slopes of Mt. Sto Tomas in Benguet, and serves 291 students. School officials hope for learning technology tools and resources for their learning needs.

“We [in the City of Baguio] are grateful to MPT Mobility, PLDT, and Smart for choosing Sto. Tomas Elementary School as the recipient of the School-in-a-Bag project,” Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong said. “This is a worthwhile initiative to enrich the quality of education in the city.”

Meanwhile, ASFFPI is a 26-year-old non-government organization that provides short- and long-term care, support, education, and other aspects of development to abandoned, neglected, abused, and exploited children and youth at their “Children’s Haven.” As of writing, ASFFPI houses 49 kids and 36 youths who are underexposed to learning materials and are challenged in meeting the expected competencies of their grade levels.

“MPT Mobility’s goal of providing access to better education through the School-in-a-Bag will surely have a significant impact on the cognitive development of our children,” Ms. Ligaya Maquiling, Executive Director of ASFFPI expressed. “With their assistance, we will achieve our goal of raising the academic performance of our children and youth by providing them with all the tools and materials needed to motivate them to engage in appropriate skills and development training.”

By providing these institutions with their own School-in-a-Bag, MPT Mobility aspires to enable students with guaranteed access to quality education through digital technology.

MPT Mobility turned over Sto. Tomas Elementary School’s and ASFFPI’s School-in-a-Bag projects during separate ceremonies held on June 22 and June 29, 2023, respectively.

Present during the turnover ceremony in Sto. Tomas Elementary School were Renée Funtanilla and Leo Gonzales, AVP for Marketing and AVP for Corporate Affairs at MPT Mobility, respectively; Stephanie Orlino (Stakeholder Management Head of PLDT-Smart), and; Mary Jane Francisco (Stakeholder Management Executive of PLDT-Smart).

The turnover ceremony in ASFFPI was attended by Allan Alfon (President and General Manager of CCLEC); Marylou Gocotano (Stakeholder Management Visayas Relations Head of Smart), Lailane Go (Regional Customer Development Senior Manager of Smart), and; MPT Mobility’s Funtanilla and Gonzales.

Representatives from the beneficiary and their local government unit were also in attendance for their respective ceremonies. 

School-in-a-Bag highlights the MVP Group’s commitment to inclusive quality education through technology, content, pedagogy, and capacity-building to ensure that there is #NoLearnerLeftBehind. These initiatives also underscore the Group’s commitment to helping the Philippines achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) No. 4 on Inclusive Quality Education.