The administration of the Palawan National School (PNS) is set to test its planned acquisition of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) wireless system technology on the last week of June for student monitoring and management.
School principal Eduardo Santos told Palawan News on Monday that the new ID system technology has been initially laid down to the parents of their students on June 1 to get their reaction and support.
He did not state when the RFID trial will end.
“This new technology, the radio frequency identification, mai-inform agad-agad ‘yong mga parents kung ano ang sitwasyon at performance ng bata sa loob ng eskwelahan,” Santos said.
He said that the technology transfers data from a RFID tag to a reader through radio frequency waves which will allow students to be tracked, located, and identified within the PNS premises.
Santos said it could also lessen the load of the teachers who are doing home visits to inform parents about their performances in school.
PNS will shoulder the expense of purchasing the machine and the ID and parents will be paying the P1,000 fee that will be used to send information to them through the short messaging system (SMS) for 10 months.
He added however that the amount is not yet final because it needs further consultation with the parents.
The RFID system, Santos said, will be tested under the supervision of Makati-based FS Del Rosario Company which is proposing a P1.5 million for software and hardware and the IDs of the students.
He said that Globe offered the same system to them, but they rejected it since the cost would be around P11 million.
“Dito magkakaroon ng parang package ‘yong FS Del Rosario Company regarding the RFID. Meaning to say pupuwede pa ibaba ang presyo kasi nakikipag-deal pa kami hanggang ngayon kung how much at kung ma-a-afford ba ng karaniwang magulang ang mga bagay na ito. Ngayon kung hindi, no problem, puwede naman silang hindi mag-avail. Meaning to say, those parents only want and could avail this technology, ‘yon ang pupuwede,” he added.
Santos pointed out that aside from attendance information, the proposed RFID system will also send the grades of the students to their parents.
If the new system does not show good results, Santos said he will immediately stop its implementation for the current school year.
Santos clarified no commitment has been given yet to the supplier, but if it gets the contract, it will explain the technology to the parents.
The budget to purchase the machine and IDs will come from the school.
“Ongoing pa ‘yon kasi di pa namin nakukuha ‘yong agreement at approval ng parents, kasi kung ayaw nila, okay lang ‘yon, wala naman problema. Pero may mga parents na gusto, doon natin ipa-pilot testing sa mga parents na gusto kasi kapag nakita nila ‘yong advantages nito, siguro naman magiging amenable din sila na okay, pwede natin gamitin ito,” he stated.
Santos said that for the pilot testing, students who will not participate cannot pass in the RFID gate as it will only open to those who have the system ID.
He said that there is a gate that will be opened for them.
He stressed that the new system is not mandatory for the parents to avail. However, he hopes they will not be left out in their effort to upgrade management of the PNS.
“Lahat ay pupuwede mag-avail pero ‘yong ayaw, ‘yon ang hindi natin pipilitin. It’s not mandatory but because we are now in the 21st century, huwag naman sana tayo mapag-iwanan ng teknolohiya kasi ito ang kailangan ng mga bata,” he stated.
