Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, 31 percent of Filipino families that had members studying through online distance learning claimed to have weak internet connection, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey conducted from November 21 to 25 last year showed 39 percent of families with members aged five to 20 who are currently studying through online distance learning say they have strong internet connection. They comprise of 26 percent who said their internet connection is somewhat strong and 14 percent said it is very strong.

Meanwhile, 31 percent of the families said their internet connection is weak, while 21 percent said it is somewhat weak and 9 percent stated it is very weak. Another 29 percent said the strength of their internet connection is fair, although that was not elaborated.

The SWS survey also showed that 86 percent of the families spend an average of P901 per month as additional expense for internet connection, while 3 percent said they have no additional spending. Furthermore, 2 percent said they get free internet and 9 percent did not give an amount.

On types of payment scheme, the SWS survey showed 56 percent of the families use prepaid internet connection, 41 percent use postpaid connection, and 5 percent rent internet use.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 individuals aged 18 and above nationwide.