SAGADA, Mountain Province (PIA)–The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) recently launched 9th Technology for Education (Tech4ED) center in barangay Bangaan here, the ninth in the province.
Tech4ED stands for Technology for Education to gain employment and trains entrepreneurs towards economic development. It is a national program aimed at serving marginalized sectors through the provision of free ICT-enabled services and content in schools and communities.
DICT Provincial Field Team OIC Head Wilfredo Quines said five of the nine Tech4ED centers are established in public schools, two in municipal local government units (LGUs), one in barangay LGU, and the Farmers’ Information Technology Services (FITS) Center at the Provincial Agriculture Office.
Quines said DICT provided the Sagada and Natonin LGUs and the FITS Center each with three desktop, all in one printer, CCTV and router. Barangay Bangaan received three laptops. The schools were provided with access to the Tech4ED platform which was installed in their desktops.
Prior to the launching of Tech4ED centers, designated Tech4ED center managers are trained to equip them with knowledge on center operations and platform utilization in managing their own Tech4ED centers to ensure that the center will be efficiently used as information access points and learning hubs.
A Tech4Ed Center is equipped with ICT equipment like computers with internet connectivity provided with access to the Tech4ED platform that has several segments.
Tech4ED platform has various components namely eAgri, eAssist, eEduSkills, and eGovServ which are only accessible in Tech4ED Centers. eAgri provides content and services on agricultural technologies for farmers and fisher folk; eAssist aims to empower special sectors through access to necessary skills training content in answer to specific industry needs; eEduSkills delivers e-learning on demand to address the educational divide while eGovServ provides links to government websites with online services. **JDP/JBS-PIA CAR, Mtn. Province
