DOST to launch 400 cyber techvoc centers

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) is set to launch an initial 400 cyber technical-vocational (tech-voc) education centers nationwide next week.

Bettina Quimson, ICTO deputy executive director, said that the launch of the more than 400 Tech4Ed centers will be held in time for the country’s hosting of the Digital Strategies for Development Summit that will be held next week, Sept. 22 to 24, at the Waterfront Hotel Cebu.

The ICTO has tapped partnerships with local government units (LGUs) to greatly expand the number of Tech4Ed centers it can launch from the P56 million budget allocation they have for the program.

By tapping the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, ICTO aims to set up as much as 1,000 Tech4Ed centers all over the country on the P56-million budget that was initially seen to have a capacity of setting up 75 centers.

Under the Tech4Ed program implementation through PPP, LGUs who want to have the cyber education facility will have to provide the computer sets and the office space complete with the required equipment such as electric fan or airconditioning units, desks and chairs to make up the Tech4Ed physical facilities.

The DOST-ICTO, Quimson said, has worked closely with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to make online technical-vocational courses the initial main feature of the Tech4Ed centers. 

Quimson said they wanted TESDA to make online certification exams available on the Tech4Ed centers, an improvement on the current e-TESDA portal that features only online tech-voc modules and tests.

DOST-ICTO envisions to add more education and training modules such as agriculture and aquaculture skills education and training in the Tech4Ed centers.

The Tech4Ed project is being pursued to make technical-vocational education and training accessible all over the country.

DOST Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre, ICTO executive director, earlier said that the government was envisioning the set up of Tech4Ed centers powered by Internet connectivity to be provided by their ambitious Television White Space (TVWS) Internet technology project to be rolled out starting this year.