ZAMBOANGA
CITY, 14 Jan (PIA) - - Aside from its regular programs and short term courses in information
communication technology (ICT), which government agency do you know that
provides free computer services, trainings and training facilities in a daily
basis to the general public?
This agency has a
Community e-Center or CEC. It is an outlet for providing the general public
with affordable access to a variety of services using information communication
technologies (ICT). These include: telephone, internet access, email, fax,
computer training, distance learning, online services and other kinds of
services and information relevant to the community. It is for this reason that
the agency is engaged the whole year round with walk-in clientele and
participants attending various computer-related trainings.
We are referring here to
the National Computer Center, one of the several agencies under the umbrella of
the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), with their Mindanao Field
Office here in Zamboanga City.
In an interview, Rodrigo
A. Macansantos, said that some of these ICT trainings run for a week or for the
whole semester , depending on the required number of hours per course. For free
or for a minimal fee, these trainings are either conducted in collaboration
with other government agencies or with private entities. The NCC provide both
the trainers and facilities and, in some instances, the venue and facilities
alone. Macansantos is the in-house Training Specialist.
What caught our attention
is the short 8-hour in-house training that the CeC offers. It’s a course on
basic computer application: computer fundamentals, MS Word and internet access.
The course is offered for free and it’s open to any sector or group of 15
participants per session. What further interests us is the frequency that this
course is being conducted at the CeC.
Macansantos said that last
year, those who availed of this free 8-hour course include several women
groups, public school teachers, students, out-of-school youths (though the
assistance of DepEd teachers in the Alternative Learning System), and inmates
of the city jail. Averaging 8 sessions (or batches) per month, some 1,440
individuals availed of the course in 2012, Macansantos added.
For the jail inmates
training on basic computer application “ we conducted the separate training for
male and female detainees right in the premises of the city jail, bringing along with us the
laptops and power point projector!” Macansantos clarified.
The in-house trainer
clarified that there are no pre-conditions or pre-qualifications needed for
those who want to take the course. He said that the window of opportunity is
open to both the young and the old – for as long as they are interested to
learn.
Macansantos said the
NCC-CeC has opened the windows of opportunities for those who have availed
their services – the impact of which cannot be fully measured. He cited how for
example, a lady detainee was able to link with her relatives at the end of the
day of training.
“The relatives do not know of her whereabouts. She saw “the window of opportunity” through facebook. Got the basic instructions on how to surf in the internet. And so, they were linked,” he said. (JPA/FDM/ZBST)
