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The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA),
in partnership with the Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training
Institute and Microsoft Philippines, launched the expanded computer
literacy program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their
dependents recently.
Labor Secretary Marianito Roque
said the project, called the Tulay Program, seeks to train, free of
charge, 25,000 OFWs and their dependents in the next three years. He
urged OFWs and their families to take advantage of the free training
course to enable them to develop new skills in computer technology
and enhance their employability.
First launched in 2004, the
project has so far trained 14,000 overseas workers and members of
their families.
At the launching of the expanded
project, Microsoft Philippines Managing Director Rafael Rollan
presented to OWWA Administrator Carmelita Dimzon and BFO Policy
Center President Susan “Toots” Ople the components of the
expanded Tulay project in the presence of Vice President Noli de
Castro and Secretary Roque.
There are now 14 Tulay training
centers in Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Saudi
Arabia and locally, in OWWA’s National Capital Region Office and
other OWWA offices in Bicol, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Iloilo, La Union
and Zamboanga.
Through a Microsoft grant of
US$600,000 in cash and software, OWWA and the BFO Center will be
able to add new centers in Taipei and Hong Kong and in the cities of
Baguio, Tacloban, Calamba, Koronadal, Butuan, Calapan and Davao and
in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, San Fernando, Pampanga and Maguindanao.
“Our aim is to provide IT
[information technology] skills to OFWs and their families so they
can learn more and connect better with their families,” said BFO
Center President Toots Ople. She said Tulay students will be taught
basic computer fundamentals, word processing, spreadsheets, digital
presentations, database fundamentals as well as how to blog and use
different social network applications.
Rollan explained that the Tulay
project validates the impact of technology in transforming the lives
of migrant workers. “It shows us the far-reaching, real-life
possibilities that IT can bring about. We are not only giving
Filipinos access to these tools but we are also introducing them to
an environment where new opportunities await them,” he said.
Many of the beneficiaries of the
Tulay project are domestic helpers in Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore
and Taiwan. During their off days, they attend free training classes
at the Tulay Centers in their respective localities.
Eden de Castro Villa, who worked
as a domestic helper in Hong Kong, returned to her native province
of La Union after the expiration of her work contract, hoping to
find a new direction in life.
She first opened a small school
supply store, then branched out to handicraft business,
manufacturing hand-woven baskets. As business grew, she and her
husband thought of computer technology as a vehicle for boosting
their business venture.
Mrs. de Villa enrolled at the
Tulay Center, hoping to learn how to use a computer. She realized
after graduation that she could do more than just operate a
computer. She realized the vast potentials of computer technology.
As a supplier of one of the country’s biggest chains of malls, she
now logs on to a website where she finds necessary information, such
as job orders and exhibit venues.
She now uses Microsoft PowerPoint
to create representations for the Department of Trade and Industry,
where she occasionally delivers lectures on basket-making. She also
learned how to use a spreadsheet application.
“The Tulay program helped me
see how far we could take our business and how we could take
advantage of the power of technology to improve our operations,”
she said.
We must congratulate Microsoft
for being the first IT company to forge partnership with OWWA and
the BFO Policy Center in creating new economic opportunities for our
overseas workers through the Tulay computer training project.
Computer technology has opened
new economic horizons for the OFWs and their dependents who have
graduated from the Tulay courses. Our domestic helpers in Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Singapore who have now learned new computer skills by
enrolling in the Tulay centers can look to new job opportunities.
OFWs’ dependents in the
Philippines should take advantage of the Tulay project, which offers
free computer training to broaden their career opportunities and
facilitate communication with their relatives working abroad.
agr0324@yahoo.com
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