Ayala Foundation connects 75 Negros schools to Internet

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — At least 75 of the 113 public high schools in Negros Occidental now have free access to the Internet, thanks to Ayala Foundation, Senator Franklin Drilon and other donors.

Forty beneficiary schools received Friday a GILAS (Gearing Up Internet Literacy and Access for Students) package each at turnover rites in E.B. Magalona National High School in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental.

The 40 schools are in addition to the 35 beneficiary-schools that have earlier availed of the Internet connectivity through the GILAS project.

Drilon, who donated P10 million to the Ayala Foundation from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), said of this amount, P4 million went to the Internet package of 40 schools in Negros Occidental.

Ayala Foundation president Victoria Garchitorena said the GILAS project has covered 3,152 schools out of 6,789 public high schools in the country, and they aim to cover all of these schools soon.

GILAS has started the ambitious project in 2005 with the aim of providing access to all high school students in the Philippines, thereby bridging the “digital divide.”

With free Internet connection, students of these schools can now maximize the use of their computer laboratories, and use the Internet for their own researches and develop skills that will make them globally competitive, she said.

GILAS exemplifies the public-private partnership approach to development, and is the first private sector initiative that the government has taken on and mainstreamed in the national budget, Garchitorena added.

Starting 2009, the Department of Education included in its annual budget the subsidy for Internet fees of the country’s public high schools.

The GILAS package includes a teacher’s training on Internet literacy, local area networking, and computer maintenance and troubleshooting, as well as one-year technical support and monitoring.

Other donors of the Internet connectivity of the 40 schools are Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., the Negros Occidental provincial government, Talisay City government, Commission on ICT, DepEd ICP, Ayala Land, Smart Schools, Seafood City, Carlos Cordero, Symphasis Foundation, and Eric Manlunas.

E.B. Magalona Mayor David Albert Lacson thanked Drilon and Ayala for the Internet project that will “surely empower students and equip them with computer literacy.”

Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr. also thanked Drilon for allocating P4 million of his PDAF for Negros Occidental, and Ayala for choosing 75 out of the 113 public schools in the province to benefit the said project.

Drilon, who is from Iloilo, promised he will continue to support the GILAS project as he trusts Ayala to deliver worthwhile projects for the good of the country.