By Perla Lena (PNA)
ILOILO CITY — A total of 650 desktop computers will be given to 65 public secondary schools in Western Visayas under the largest computerization project for the basic education sector in the country.
Each school will receive 10 personal computers and printers under the Personal Computer for Public School-Phase 5 (PCPS-5) project, which is managed by the by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd).
The Phase 5 of the project has a budget of PHP196 million from the Government of Japan No-Project Grant Assistance (NPGA-CVF) for 380 public high schools in Mindanao and Visayas.
The computers are expected to be delivered to the recipient schools before the end of the year, David Israel Sinay, DTI regional information officer, said on Tuesday.
The fifth phase seeks to replace the “obsolete computer packages in schools affected by typhoon/earthquake”, he added.
Likewise it also aims to “upgrade computer laboratories to support the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum.”
In Western Visayas, the recipients include schools from six provinces such as Aklan with 28; Antique, eight; Iloilo, 25; and two each for Negros Occidental and Capiz.
The DTI Western Visayas gathered representatives of recipient schools and coordinators for an orientation held in this city.
“They were oriented about the purpose of the program and its implementation,” Sinay added.
Zenaida F. Pre, chief of the Resource Generation Coordination of the DTI, during the orientation said that since its first implementation in 2001 until 2014 covering Phases 1-4, the project has benefited 5,028 public schools and delivered 61, 554 computers.
The project has contributed to the reduction of computer backlog in public high schools from 76 percent in 2003 to just four percent in 2014.
