Oreta launches scheme to train public teachers on IT

TARLAC CITY — Opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta has launched here the pilot project of TAO CARES, a scheme that seeks to train public school officials and teachers on the use of information technology (IT) as a powerful tool for communicating, teaching and decision-making in the midst of the Internet Revolution.

During simple launching rites at the Sto. Cristo Elementary School here, Oreta expressed hopes that TAO CARES would be institutionalized not only in Central Luzon but also in the rest of the country.

Tarlac and Bataan, which also have the appropriate environments to nurture the project, according to Oreta, are the pilot sites for TAO CARES.

TAO CARES, which stands for Teachers Advancement for Optimum Well-being — Computer Assisted Reforms for Schools, is among the offshoots of Project TAO, the very first nationwide survey of the working conditions and welfare benefits of public school teachers.

Oreta noted that based on the findings of Project TAO, only 1.8 percent of public schools nationwide have Internet access, while only close to 14 percent of the country’s 405,000 public school teachers use computers. She initiated Project TAO during her stint as chair of the Senate committee on education in the 11th Congress.

Oreta explained that TAO CARES also involves the distribution of computers for the use of selected schools in Tarlac and Bataan linked to their respective school divisions, regional offices, and the Department of Education central office via the Internet.

Oreta is supporting the pilot projects in Tarlac and Bataan by setting aside the bulk of her countrywide development fund for the training of 180 school heads in the use of IT tools for decision making.

"The training will prepare the school heads for their new role under the Governance of Basic Education Act," she said.

The law, which Oreta authored, gives teachers and school officials of the Department of Education a more active role in formulating policies and programs at their level. — Efren Danao