The Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Government Internship Program (GIP) has proven its significant impact in Biliran, with interns acting as tutors and even helping build decent homes.
Providing young workers with employment opportunities in the field of public service, the program enabled 294 interns to act as tutors deployed in different areas of the province last school year.
Through a collaboration between the office of Gov. Rogelio J. Espina and the Labor department, the interns, who are education degree holders, assisted students struggling with their studies in the previous school year.
Part of the GIP interns’ duties was to conduct home visits at least twice a week to check if the student was able to catch up and adjust to their new way of schooling. These home visits allowed the interns to identify challenges besetting the students that included poor housing conditions.
This led Espina to personally visit some of the affected students in their homes and see for himself the dire conditions that some students in the province are living in.
This prompted the implementation of a housing program in the province. Last month, the provincial government of Biliran, through its Bahay Mo Sagot Ko Program, started the turnover process of newly constructed houses to the poorest of the poor beneficiaries in the town of Cabucgayan.
As a result, some families who used to experience poor living conditions are now living securely and comfortably in decent houses.
Labor Sec. Silvestre Bello III directed the aggressive implementation of the GIP to help students pursue higher education even in the face of the pandemic.
For the current 2021-2022 school year, 116 interns will again be deployed as tutors in various areas of the province.
GIP is a component of Kabataan 2000 under Executive Order (EO) No. 139 series of 1993, and DOLE Administrative Order No. 260-15, which aim to provide opportunities and engage young workers to serve the general public in projects and programs of government agencies/entities at the national and local level. (DOLE) – jlo
