TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte (PNA) - A total of 426 schools in Mindanao will benefit from the Personal Computers for Public Schools (PCPS) Project-Phase 4 this year.
The PCPS Project, which started in 2001, has completed three batches of computerization programs benefiting about 4,000 public high schools nationwide.
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It is the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) response to the growing challenges by the fast-emerging knowledge economy.
The project is funded by the Non-Project Grant Aid-Counter Value Fund of the Japanese Government.
The PCPS 4 is special since only the public schools in Mindanao (from Regions 9 to 13 and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) have been identified as the recipients.
In the Davao Region, there are 51 recipient-schools.
These are 10 for Compostela Valley (ComVal) Province; 11 for Davao del Norte; 10 for Davao Oriental; four for Davao del Sur, and 16 for Davao City.
Each recipient school will receive computer packages consisting of 11 units of desktop computers, 11 units of uninterruptible power supply (UPS), one printer, and one router.
During the recent PCPS 4 launching at the F. Bangoy National High School in Sasa, Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli A. Lapus said the fourth phase of PCPS is another significant step toward arming the Filipino youth for the challenges of the knowledge economy.
"Our youth are facing more challenges than ever before. Information and knowledge are replacing capital and energy as the primary wealth-creating assets, just as capital and energy replaced land and labor two centuries ago. Technology and knowledge are now the key factors of production. We are now an information society in a knowledge economy where knowledge management is a necessity," he said.
Lapus cited the Philippines' competitive advantage in the information technology (IT) services sector.
He said the country is the second largest producer of computer services in Asia, coming close at the heels of India.
The country also ranked fourth worldwide in the category "Knowledge Jobs" in the 2002 Global New Economy Index by the United States-based Meta Group Research.
"The PCPS project was designed to maintain this competitive advantage. It incorporates IT in the basic levels of education by providing computers to public high schools," he said.
Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makoto Katsura said Japan has been funding the PCPS because of its strong stance to help the Philippines' realize and maximize its IT potential
