Personal Computers for Public Schools (PCPS)

The Department of Trade & Industry recently approved the release of 10 personal computers each to some 22 public high schools in Oriental Negros under the third phase of the PCs for Public Schools (PCPS) Project, a government program that grants PCs with printer and other computer paraphernalia to selected public high schools all over the country.

The PCPS project is “DTI’s response to the compelling challenges posed by the fast-emerging Knowledge Economy.” The project aims to enhance the IT skills of young Filipinos as future knowledge workers as well as promote IT culture in Philippine classrooms as a way of developing the skills of young Filipinos to keep up with global standards.

The delivery of the computers is set for this month of July, to be followed by inspection and installation of the units by DTI and DepEd personnel. A training has also been set for at least five teachers assigned to the program by the recipient schools, immediately after the installation, with a more intensive training to be sponsored by STI coming up sometime in October.

So far, some 62 public high schools in the Province of Oriental Negros have benefited from the program through the 1^st (2002), 2^nd (2004) and 3^rd (2006) phases of PCPS, receiving a total of 740 computer units in all. Incidentally, th second phase package included 5 units each for two LGU recipients, namely: Basay and San Jose.

Recognized for its competitive advantage in the IT services sector, being the second largest producer of computer services in Asia, next to India, the Philippines has been ranked number 4 worldwide in the “Knowledge Jobs” category in the 2002 Global New Economy Index by US-based Meta Group Research. To maintain this edge and to continuously provide manpower to the IT sector, DTI, through the PCPS Project, promotes the need to incorporate IT in the basic levels of education by providing computers to public high schools.