The Department of Education (DepEd) will begin distributing 231,725 laptops to public school teachers on Nov. 9, prioritizing schools that have not received units under its Laptops for Teachers program and teachers without government- or school-issued devices.
The department has issued selection guidelines covering eligibility, priority groups, and procedures for allocating units when qualified teachers outnumber available laptops.
“We want to ensure these laptops go to teachers who can maximize them most for teaching and learning, while keeping equity at the center by prioritizing teachers who have never received a government- or school-issued laptop. These guidelines set clear rules so schools can select recipients fairly and transparently,” DepEd secretary Sonny Angara said.
The procurement includes 169,008 Mac-based laptops and 62,717 Windows-based units for teachers. DepEd also procured 3,646 MacBook Neo units for administrative officers.
The packages include productivity tools, nationwide delivery, training, and a five-year extended warranty, according to the department.
Laptop allocations across regions, divisions, and schools are based proportionately on teacher counts. Distribution will begin with schools that have not previously received devices under the Laptops for Teachers component of the DepEd Computerization Program.
To qualify, teachers must have an active teaching assignment, an active DepEd email account with multi-factor authentication enabled, and no working government- or school-issued laptop received between Jan. 1, 2023, and Nov. 6, 2026. Personally owned laptops and shared equipment do not disqualify applicants.
When eligible teachers exceed available units, schools must follow a three-tier priority system.
First priority goes to teachers without government-issued laptops who actively lead educational technology activities, including ICT coordinators, EdTech champions, and Khan Academy teachers. Holding a designation alone, without active contribution, does not qualify a teacher for this priority.
Second priority covers other eligible teachers without an individually issued laptop. Third priority covers eligible previous recipients whose devices were destroyed by calamities, declared unserviceable, or lost to theft or robbery.
Seniority and non-teaching duties do not confer priority. If available units cannot cover everyone within a priority group, schools must conduct a witnessed drawing of lots, either manually or through the Teacher Assignment for Laptop Allocation (Tala) system.
School heads and property custodians must finalize recipient lists through tala.deped.gov.ph by Nov. 15. The platform will also serve as an inventory and property management system for school-issued devices.
The laptops will remain government property and will be enrolled in DepEd’s Mobile Device Management system. Unauthorized sales or transfers are prohibited.
Teachers promoted or reassigned outside the teaching track must return their laptops for reallocation.
