Stakeholders of ICT Center of Excellence during the ground breaking ceremony. From left: Atty. James Abadia, RAFI-AVP for Social Development; Cebu Ports Authority Commissioner Duke Frasco; Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco; Dr. Juliet Jeruta, DepEd 7 Director; and Fr. Ronel Vilbar, SDB, Rector.
contributed photo
Taking a bigger step towards improving the employability of the senior high school students, the Education Development Unit of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI-EDU) officially launched Cebu’s first public ICT Center of Excellence at Liloan National High School Annex-Don Bosco Campus last November 12, 2018.
The project is being implemented in partnership with the municipality of Liloan, Don Bosco Boys’ Home Liloan, and the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7).
Present during the groundbreaking were DepEd-7 Director Dr. Juliet Jeruta, Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco, Cebu Ports Authority Commissioner Duke Frasco, rector Fr. Ronel Vilbar, school administrator Fr. Marco Bollozos, and Liloan National High School principal Hipolito Pegarido.
The event was attended by RAFI vice president for Social Development Atty. James Abadia and RAFI-EDU executive director Ernesto Alix.
The ICT Center of Excellence will be fully equipped and dedicated for senior high school students taking the Technical Vocational Livelihood (TVL) track in Information Communication Technology (ICT) programming (Java and .Net).
The project is targeted to be finished by May 2019, just in time for the first batch of senior high school students for the school year 2019-2020.
In her speech, Mayor Christina Frasco said the center will offer “a world-class learning facility with the highest degree of instruction in ICT, with participation from the ICT Industry itself.”
“The establishment of this one-of-a-kind educational facility reaffirms our local government’s commitment to the education of our young as our number one priority in Liloan. This also paves the way for the fulfillment of one of our goals for Liloan to be a dynamic hub for the IT Industry where young and skilled professionals thrive,” she added.
Mayor Frasco also shared one of the last conversations she had with the late RAFI President Roberto Aboitiz, who said that the establishment of the ICT Center “if successful, will become a model.”
“The fulfillment of this dream is the product of years of cooperation and collaboration between Liloan, RAFI, DepEd-7, and Don Bosco,” she added.
Jeruta highlighted that this project is an outstanding exemplar of a public-private partnership wherein everyone collaborates.
Alix said the project will help prepare senior high school learners for gainful employment or entrepreneurship in the ICT industry by providing them a foundation in programming, and other relevant skills and qualifications required by the industry.
RAFI will provide the school building and technology solutions, and will co-chair the ICT Center Governing Council together with DepEd. The Council will formulate policies, which includes continuous research and development to maintain a relevant and industry-aligned ICT programming curriculum and content, learning and development of teachers, linkages with industry for effective work immersion of learners, and provision of subject-matter experts.
The information drive for the ICT Center of Excellence will begin in the last week of November 2018, and accepting of senior high applications shall start on the first week of December 2018. /PR