DepEd seeks help from private sector

CEBU, Philippines - Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is urging the private sector to help improve the quality of education in the country.

According to him, the industry players can do this through but not limited to two things – first is to assist the government in connecting all schools to the internet to attain 100 percent integration of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and second, to help the academe solve the problem of mismatch between graduates and the required human resources of the industry.

Lapus cited the interesting experience of Vietnam, which, he said could serve as a model for the Philippines.

“In Vietnam, instead of industry just being critical of education, it is proactive and part of the problem solving. The industry is required to spell out the kind of jobs that it needs and it is required to report regularly on such developments,” he stressed.

He added that industries in Vietnam are required to accept on the job training and apprenticeships. It is also encouraged to participate in policy formulation through sitting as members of the board of directors, “So they share success or failure in matching of supply and demand. These are some models that we want to adopt from them,” Lapus said.

One of the areas where the industry is best appreciated in Vietnam is in the construction of classrooms as a form of investment.

“In Vietnam, private sectors construct class rooms for the public schools and lease them. The construction of classrooms is considered an investment and certain legislations have been drafted to give incentives in exchange of their initiatives,” Lapus said.

“Also in Vietnam, they have similar problems in connecting their schools to the internet but Vietnam happily responded. A Telecom (Telecommunications) company has offered to connect by the end of the year all their schools, 100 percent, for free, for 100 years. So we in the Philippines we envy Vietnam and how we wish that a telecom company in the Philippines will also step forward.”

The integration of ICT in schools has been the department’s goal since the start of the 21st century as it is seen to innovate teaching-learning practices and ease school management.

It is also a response to the worldwide demand in web-proficiency and the demand for highly skilled and technologically knowledgeable human resources.

“In fairness to the private sector, we have the GILAS project (Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) where 2000 schools have already been connected. It is an Ayala-initiated project in partnership with various telecom companies in the Philippines,” Lapus said.

The project includes giving High Schools 10 computers and one year free internet connection but after a year, schools have to pay the monthly connection service charge.

“So we are mentioning this in this press conference and it is our way of letting them know that it could be that telecom companies could probably find it in their heart to do the same thing as it is being done in other countries,” Lapus said.

He appealed that if telecom companies are earning averagely P6 billion a year, P300 million per year to connect all schools might not be too much of a burden. — Jessica Ann R. Pareja/WAB   (FREEMAN NEWS)