MANILA — The Department of Education said Monday it started distributing sim cards with internet load to a million teaching and non-teaching personnel.

Permanent, contractual, and local government unit-paid personnel working under DepEd schools and offices are eligible to receive the cards, the DepEd said in a statement.

The internet load aims to "ensure ease in communication and unhampered delivery of services" as remote learning continued due to COVID-19, said Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua.

The DepEd allotted P1.2 billion to procure the sim cards. The amount was part of the P4.3 billion financial assistance given to the agency through the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, the government's second stimulus package to combat the effects of the pandemic.

The DepEd told its issuing offices to distribute the sim cards until July 23.

The sim cards will be activated with an initial 34-gigabyte load, which is consumable for one year, the DepEd said.

• Teachers to get 3 months' worth of internet load, DepEd says

DepEd's division supply officers and school property custodians will also register the sim cards to a website to allocate load for the second month, the agency added.

Teachers saw the need for an internet allowance as they incurred expenses while carrying out online classes under distance learning, an alternative to in-person classes that remain banned due the pandemic.

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